#thetinderswindler

Even as a movie you’d see “for free” (it’s a Netflix original) The Tinder Swindler is a mixed bag. This documentary teaches an important lesson but this tale is hardly unique and certainly undeserving of the gargantuan 1h 54 min. running time.

To Cecilie Fjellhoy, meeting Simon Leviev on Tinder seemed a dream come true. They had an immediate connection. He flew her all over Europe on his private jet, dined, and romanced her as only the super-wealthy can. Then, Simon’s enemies came after him. To go "off-grid", he convinced Cecilie to send him money, money he never paid back and used to impress Pernilla Sjöholm, with whom he also had an immediate connection…

From the title, you can probably guess the film’s broad strokes. Simon turned out to be a con artist who lured women through Tinder to take advantage of them financially. Did you think The Tinder Swindler was going to be the next A Fall from Grace? Sorry to disappoint, but there’s value in this true story. Maybe you know someone who's as naive about life as Cecilie, or maybe you have elderly parents who don’t quite understand this internet thing and could be easy prey for a scam artist. Director Felicity Morris shows how elaborate - and convincing - these hoaxes can be and how much you stand to lose if you let your guard down.

Unfortunately, I doubt The Tinder Swindler will have much impact in the end. While it’s sad to see innocent people’s lives ruined, this sort of thing isn’t new. The film doesn’t even attempt to draw a bridge between the women's stories and ours with stats about the number of people who get scammed each year. It’s just about these women and the man who robbed them. It makes it so easy to think “I could never be that foolish” despite having just seen how convincing Simon was.

This story could’ve been covered in an hour-long news exposé if it cut out the repetition scenes in the middle and the ones that wind up going nowhere. If it absolutely needed to be a full-length feature, it should've dug into the questions it ultimately leaves unanswered. There's a mysterious woman we meet early on whose identity is never revealed... probably because this film needed to be released as soon as possible. Time is very much this picture’s enemy because it's only a matter of time before another conman makes the headlines and we forget all about this one.

An ending that highlighted the number of people who get conned every year and the things you can do to protect yourself might’ve left the audience feeling downbeat. It would’ve fared better than what we got. The Tinder Swindler jumps through all sorts of hoops to leave you on a high note - enough to give us a conclusion that's nowhere as cheery as the soundtrack thinks it is.

Despite its flaws and shortcomings, I'll recommend The Tinder Swindler. It gets you riled up and takes no time at all for you to be emotionally invested in it. You won’t remember this film down the line but you could do much worse. Who knows? Maybe you'll even learn to spot the next “Simon” before he defrauds you. (January 4, 2022)