TIFF 2025 Review: Swiped

TIFF 2025: Swiped is the CEO Origin Story We Didn’t Know We Needed

Every female entrepreneur has probably heard the name Whitney Wolfe Herd the founder and CEO of Bumble, and one of the original co-founders of Tinder. She made headlines in 2021 as the youngest self-made female billionaire. But how many of us actually know the real story behind her rise?

Swiped, the latest film from director Rachel Lee Goldenberg, tells Whitney’s story with Lily James stepping into her shoes. The film dives into her early days trying to break into the tech world, hustling to connect with the right people, until she meets startup founder Sean (Ben Schnetzer), who brings her on board as head of marketing. One of the company’s underwhelming products? A dating app called Tinder … a name Whitney herself helped come up with.

She spots the app’s potential, creates a brilliant marketing campaign, and helps drive its success. But things get messy when her toxic relationship with co-founder (and ex) Justin starts to unravel. As Whitney begins to get the recognition she deserves, we see how threatened he becomes  , going so far as to say it’s “embarrassing” to have a woman co-founder.

The first half of the film leans heavily into the dark side of startup culture from workplace harassment to privacy issues in the dating app world. And while the story focuses more on her time at Tinder than it does on her Bumble empire, it still gives us a glimpse into what it took for her to challenge the “bro” culture and rise above it.

I know it’s not getting rave reviews and no, it’s not Oscar-worthy but as a woman in business, I actually found it super refreshing. It was inspiring to see the raw and real journey of a smart, badass woman carving out her space in a male-dominated industry. It made me appreciate Whitney’s story even more  not just the headlines, but a look into how much she had to fight to be taken seriously.

Watch the trailer for Swiped below

Swiped premieres on September 19, 2025. Watch it on Disney +