I Swiped the Wrong One

 I Swiped the Wrong One follows four young people looking for love in the chaotic world of online dating. In this modestly budgeted relationship film, directed by Laura Irene Young from a script by Joel Fishel, Amanda (Rachel Pfennigwerth) moves home to Pittsburgh from Washington, D.C.. Her job as a political aide ended when the congressman she worked for (played by Fishel) falls because of misconduct. When she’s back in the house her parents treat her like she’s still a child. Though they mean well, she’s stifled by the them. 

She crosses paths with three others to kick off this misadventure in dating. Michael (Dustin Andrews), a recently divorced man, Ashley (Emily Moore), a woman who has given up on online dating, and Matthew (Nicholas Zarzeczny), whose buddy Tyler (Ethan Lyvers) adds him to a dating site without asking him if he wants to be there. Each interaction is awkward, and the squirming only intensifies when the four main characters go to a coffee-shop for a meetup and talk to the wrong person. 

Michael and Amanda wind up dating, and we follow them through dinners and visits to museums. Things are going well as they warm to each other, but life gets complicated when Amanda is offered a job that will have her returning to D.C., while Michael has his own major life events to deal with. While Michael and Amanda are trying to sort this out, they have a chance encounter with Ashley and Matthew, and learn that the dating outcome for them has been a different story. 

“… four people navigate the chaotic world of online dating …”

I Swiped the Wrong One is based on a movie-within-a-movie in Joel Fishel’s film The Haunting of Prince Dom Pedro, which is a clever origin for this film. Aiming to subvert the usual Rom-Com trope is an admirable goal, but doesn’t consider that the reason viewers take in low-budget romance films is often to have a comfortable, familiar experience with a reliable outcome. This may not have been the genre in which to experiment. On the other hand, there is sure to be an audience who will relate to these characters and their more likely life choices. The audio is rough in spots, with dialogue suffering from muffled, echoing recording. The soundtrack is also pure elevator music, just some quiet notes to keep the background from being hollow and dull. 

Exploring the humor in modern dating is a solid premise, and the script is adequate, but the film falls apart on the performances, which are so flat, stiff, and amateurish as to be cringe-inducing. There are moments in the film when any one of us mere mortals would be flailing about in a rage induced fit, but these characters smile and nod. That said, the situations and outcomes are more realistic than the rose-colored glow often portrayed in the usual Rom-Com.