Offline Dating

Disillusioned by the world of Tinder, Tom challenges himself to try and meet people by just talking to them in the street. A small documentary crew follows him in his efforts.

Seems this short film hit a nerve. I was lucky enough to see it on the first day it was uploaded, only to find that in less than 2 weeks it had gone viral with hundreds of thousands of views and media coverage around the world. With this I was quite glad to have seen it before the hype got to it, because there is a certain amount of backlash against it now, as is the way with such things. The film appears to be a very well captured and edited documentary (and the director says it is), and I think this is the case despite, as many point out, that at least one of the women is an actress (although not necessarily acting here). This was in my mind while watching it though, not because of this, but rather because the film and its access seems so effortlessly nature, that I found it to be almost too well crafted to be "real".

As I watched it though, I found myself wondering why I cared if it was real or fiction; if it was the former then it was very well captured, but if it were the latter then it was very well acted and scripted to manage to come across so natural. Either way, although I think it is clearly not staged, it doesn't really matter because the film delivers what it delivers pretty well. In a series of cold- approaches we see Tom getting chatting to people, and making some fun connections, while at the same time talking about why he is doing this. As a documentary, this is good because it takes a familiar topic but presents it in an unusual way – and one that encourages the viewer to think around it and with it.

Okay, there is an element of weirdness to see Tom approach people – not because it is weird to talk to people in real life, but more that he just walks right up to women without any opening line, sometimes asking out friends one after the other till one accepts. As many have pointed out, this is not really how offline dating works – and for women who are used to getting hassled by "interested" men when they are just trying to go somewhere, then Tom's antics may not be seen in the way they were intended. I guess the camera crew and the fact that Tom is pretty handsome probably helps cover this, and I get the point, but probably me doing the same "moves" as him here is not going to get the same reaction – and understandably so.

Whatever its faults, it is technically very well made, has a certain charm and naturalism to it, and is effective at being a thought provoking piece on a topical subject.

Never thought that these days there are still girls who prefer to go out with boys rather than meet them on Tinder or any other social media dating site. The filmmaker was so funny and humble. I liked the way he approached women. He seemed natural and honest. It put a big smile on my face after finishing it. Worth the time.