What’s It About
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.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
The Tinder Swindler is intriguing and informative, but at a runtime of 2-hours, it becomes repetitive after the first hour. Three women detail their accounts with the person they thought was exclusive only to them. For most of the film, his name was Simon Leviev, the son of a billionaire diamond dealer. First up was Cecilie. For a relationship that lasted a little over a month, she had the most evidence against Simon, but she also lost the most monetarily. Her story alone was enough to make you feel empathy for any woman unlucky enough to come across Simon’s path. She bravely tells her story in detail via multiple images, texts, and audio messages. As she continues to tell her side of things, we get introduced to Pernilla. She’s not falling for the usual sweet talk, but in the end, she was just as susceptible as Cecilie when it came to giving him money. He swindled many other women, but that would be unnecessary to discuss since he did the same thing to every woman he met. Therefore, with about fifteen minutes left, they introduce victim number three, Ayleen. She was with him for more than fourteen months. She found out about Simon’s escapades through articles about his encounters with Pernilla and Cecilie. As this documentary comes to an end, Ayleen gets some slight revenge, while the other two women continue to organize efforts against Simon and his fake lifestyle. Since this is a true and ongoing story, the ending is more realistic than most documentaries and might not be as satisfactory for those wanting a Hollywood ending. Regardless of what you might want to happen to Simon and his many victims, there is solace in knowing when this film ends, it’s ultimately not over.
OUR RATING – A SWIPE RIGHT 8