When their dream date turns into a nightmare, a group of women band together to stop a prolific fraudster in the trailer for Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary, The Tinder Swindler.
Armed with the most entertaining title of 2022 and a globe-trotting story of subterfuge, the producers of Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer return to the small screen with their latest documentary, which follows the real-life story of titular swindler Simon Leviev and the women attempting to bring him down.
The trailer introduces us to Cecilie Schrøder Fjellhøy, who swipes right on what seems to be a charismatic billionaire playboy in January 2018. Several dates, fancy hotels and a private jet later, the stage is set for a fairy-tale romance. Or it would be, if two other women weren’t telling the filmmakers the same thing…
Here the tale takes an inevitable twist into the macabre, as Cecilie receives some rather ominous-looking texts along with a request for a stonking pile of cash. Pretty soon the assembled victims are telling us about visits from the police, creepy voicemails and a blurry man stood in a window. Those definitely feel like red flags.
Based on a six-month investigation by Norway’s most popular newspaper, Verdens Gang, the original story was notable at the time for its combination of investigative journalism with a mobile-friendly presentation style, using just 924 words of traditional text alongside videos and phone messages. Netflix’s latest docu-film looks to be adapting this smartphone-story into a more traditional true-crime format, one which it presumably hopes will recapture the success of some of the streamer’s previous documentaries, including Don’t Fuck With Cats and Memories of a Murderer.
The Tinder Swindler arrives on Netflix 2 February 2022.
Words by James Harvey
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