Online dating has become the norm for people of all ages in today's world, but that wasn't always the case. The 2025 biopic, Swiped, directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg, brings us into the world of how Tinder got its start, following the career path of co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, now CEO of the major dating app and social networking app, Bumble. Becoming a co-founder of a huge startup project at the age of 24 is a huge accomplishment in and of itself, but her time at Tinder was just the beginning of Wolfe Herd's incredible journey.
The majority of the film focuses on Wolfe Herd's experience working at Tinder, establishing her capabilities as an entrepreneur and marketer, which would inspire her to create her own women-focused dating app, prioritizing safety and catering to the needs of women rather than men. Bumble is marketed as a female-forward app where women make the first move. What makes Swiped special is Whitney Wolfe Herd's mission to uplift, encourage, and empower women in a male-dominated world.
While critics note that the film fails to explore serious topics, such as workplace harassment, to a sufficient extent to make a significantly impactful story, it does include a broad range of issues related to the tech industry and gender discrimination as a whole. Earning a low score of 37% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many comparing it to its predecessor, The Social Network (2010), most say that Swiped failed to capture the same magic that made The Social Network great.
The two films may share similar concepts, but they are different. It is important to note that Whitney Wolfe Herd herself was against the idea of a movie being made about her at all; the film itself states that she had no involvement in the making of Swiped.
Characterizing real-life figures in Swiped
Even with the amount of readily available information on Wolfe Herd's story, including interviews, public records, and articles, the story isn't an exact reenactment of events; details may have been changed, merged, and dramatized for the sake of the film. This isn't surprising given the fact that Wolfe Herd is legally not allowed to comment directly on her experience at Tinder, but it leaves us feeling both curious and disappointed, wanting to know more yet knowing that we may never get the full true story of what truly happened.
When we first meet Wolfe Herd (Lily James), we are instantly charmed by her dedication to doing good in the world. Her car door that only opens from the outside, humble personality, and clever marketing tactics are all part of her ensemble. She demonstrates within the first 10 minutes of the film her effective marketing of the product, Cardify, Hatch Labs' leading project before Tinder, causing Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer) to hire her on the spot after a single business meeting where she landed a deal with Outback Steakhouse.
While Wolf Herd's character has many positive attributes, she is not without flaws, including her own inherent misogyny toward her female coworkers. Her ability to recognize her role in participating in this poor behavior and make a positive change turns this fault into a valuable lesson that gender discrimination against women doesn't only come from men; it can be from other women too.
What Swiped does exceptionally well is showing that the supporting characters are not simply there to drive the story along, but also have their own lives, opinions, and place outside of the film as developed personalities. We also get a great sense of Justin Mateen's (Jackson White) character early on, where his dialogue and body language give away his jealous nature and possessive attitude, setting up their relationship conflict.
The film displays the effects of parasocial relationships and cyberbullying, showcasing the effect it has on the very real people behind the screen. It doesn't shy away from sharing the dangerous threats Wolfe Herd received via Twitter from people she had never even met and the effect it had on her mental health, especially since no one seemed to take these online threats seriously.
Highlighting sexism in the tech workplace
In an ironic backdrop of trying to match men and women through a dating app, the divide between the two couldn't be bigger in the film. Despite Wolfe Herd's enormous influence, she is not the only woman who is mistreated and overlooked. Tisha and Beth (Mary Neely) are notable side characters who also get the dismissive treatment from the majority of their male coworkers and, at times, Wolfe Herd herself.
In addition to the subtle ignoring of the women in the room during team meetings, after ending her relationship with Mateen, Wolfe Herd attempts to make her position as a co-founder at the company clear, and he tells her directly, "Having a female cofounder makes us look like a joke," and then goes on to accuse her of sleeping her way to the top.
Though the third co-founder of Tinder, JB (Ian Colletti), did not play a large role in supporting the toxic male-dominated workplace, he did nothing to prevent it from happening, and neither did any of her coworkers. It's possible that JB was oblivious to the discrimination, seeing as it wasn't directed at him, but this further emphasizes that inaction also perpetuates the behavior.
The criticism of women doesn't stop in the workplace, as it leaks into the culture from Tinder's users as well. The film makes note of this by configuring the new use of the phrase "Tinder slut" which refers to "a girl that sleeps with men using the popular dating app, Tinder," but there is no such turn of phrase for men who use the app for the same thing. This further adds to the narrative that women are criticized more than men regarding romance and hookup culture as a whole. There are more labels for promiscuous women floating around than there are for men, and Wolfe Herd has heard them all.
Whitney Wolfe Herd's pretty privilege
The opening scene sets up the trajectory of the rest of the film, with nearly every male she speaks to rejecting her proposal for the business she wants to start up and instead pivoting the conversation toward hitting on her. It is obvious that she knows how to use her visual appeal to her advantage when marketing. This type of interaction continues throughout the film and makes us question the advantages and disadvantages of looking a certain way.
It's clear that Wolfe Herd does have a leg up on many others simply because she is considered conventionally attractive. Tisha tries to bring up the topic during their argument, but it is not directly acknowledged; it would likely take away from the film's core focus. That's not to say that she is in any way undeserving of her success, but it is a factor that likely worked in her favor since the beginning.
Because of this, she was able to make connections to people of higher power, such as Andrey Andreev (Dan Stevens), that others may not have had the chance to. It appears that he fully funded the creation of Bumble, as Wolfe Herd states in the film, "Bumble wouldn't exist without Andrey." There is no doubting that Wolfe Herd's perseverance, positive feminist movement, and following success is a story worth telling, but there is still a lot left unexplored.
Overall, the film leaves viewers hopeful for the future of online dating, instating Wolfe Herd as CEO of not only Bumble, but also Badoo and Magic Lab. An important quote near the end of the film perfectly encapsulates the main message: "If you don't condemn it, you are supporting it." The story works to shed light on the steps we are taking as a society toward helping ensure the safety of women online, inspiring women to make the first move, and initiating positive change.
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