Movie Review - The Tinder Swindler

Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjoholm, Ayleen Charlotte
 
Description: Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, he wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now some victims plan for payback.

Review: From the makers of “Don’t F**k with Cats”, Netflix drops the must-see docu “The Tinder Swindler”. In it you see how ‘dream guy’ Simon uses the dating app to swindle women worldwide for millions. A few victims strike back. A bizarre and exciting documentary.
Watching the first thirty minutes of “The Tinder Swindler” it takes effort not to do ‘victim blaming’. With cheesy music playing in the background, Norwegian Cecilie explains why Beauty and the Beast was always her favorite fairytale: a story about a village girl who hopes for something grater and meets someone who can save them. Then you’re heat how Cecilie stumbled upon attractive Israeli Simon Leviev on Tinder: the son of a super-rich diamond trader with a life of luxury that includes travel, private jets, fast cars, designer clothes and five-star hotels. Swipe right! Their first coffee date takes place at London’s fancy Four Season hotel and luckily: the rich playboy looks exactly like his pictures. They also hit it off immediately and the conversations soon become personal. After an hour, Simon asks Cecilie if she’d like to fly with him to Bulgaria, where he has a business meeting. And she says yes.
You can hear Cecilie say “I’d be stupid if I said no”. The Norwegian is so overjoyed by this great date that she hadn’t thought of bad scenarios at all. She does find it a bit remarkable that Simon’s ex and their two-year-old daughter are also traveling to Bulgaria with them. But her answer is still: YOLO. A nice adventure. After a few more dates, bouquets of roses and a shitload of Facetime conversations they make their relationship official. And not much later, Simon asks Cecilie to movie in together. He just can’t go with her to view houses, because of his business trips. It’s admirable how vulnerable Cecilie makes herself by sharing these details, her own naivety and complete Whatsapp history with the world. Especially when things turn around and you discover how Simon, with lies about life-threatening threats, also gets her to wire money to him. A lot of money. Goodbye dream, hello nightmare.
In “The Tinder Swindler” more of Simon’s victims tell their story. And the further you get into the documentary, the more absurd it becomes. The money that Simon extorts from one person, he spends on expensive vacations with another. For a long time, he gets away with it because of the cunning way he takes in his Tinder matches. Everything about this guy seems legit, with fake photos and Google posts confirming his stories. The documentary becomes extra exciting from the moment Cecilie tells the press. This sets in motion an investigation and a series of events through which she comes into contact with fellow victims and the police. Although it turns out to be quite difficult to catch the traveling con man. The Dutch Ayleen Charlotte plays an important role in this, but I will not spoil that.
This is your typical “this will never happen to me” story. This guy knew exactly what he was doing and how to convinces gullible women to send him large amounts of money without asking questions. And he can keep his billionaire, jet-set life.
“The Tinder Swindler” is just under two hours long, but it flies by and doesn’t bore you for a second. The way the timelines and stories of the woman are interwoven, you are eagerly awaiting the denouement. The bizarre ending also makes it clear why it is so important that Simon’s victims share their stories. It’s an absolute must-see documentary.

Rating: 4/ 5