Modern fairy-tales come crashing down in the racy British crime documentary, The Tinder Swindler, where a conman swindles women off 10 million dollars

Mona

Truth is stranger than fiction – there couldn’t be a better example of this than Felicity Morris-directed British documentary The Tinder Swindler. The world over, many girls grow up waiting for a knight to save them. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White have been childhood companions. So, if you come across such a prince on Tinder, would you follow your dream?

Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm and Ayleen Charlotte – living in different parts of the world – London/Oslo, Stockholm, Prague/Amsterdam – have been sold the same dream. A diamond prince looking for love. Pepper it with extravagant bouquets, caviar and coffee at Four Seasons, Rolls Royce, impromptu trips in a private jet to foreign locales, and promises of being happy ever after. While Cecilie and Ayleen were charmed by the new-age Charles Sobhraj, Pernilla found a friend whom she cared for hugely.

Only these fairy-tales come with a twist! The diamond prince is hounded for his money, his Israeli bodyguard Peter has taken a bullet for him and now the prince needs the saving. Trust our modern girls to turn the protector for their man in a vulnerable spot. Only this gets them under debt – millions of dollars. Add to it, there are not just these three. Our Prince Charming is convicted of fraud in his home country, Israel, and is running a Ponzi scheme—using money of gullible girls to lead a lavish jet-setting, partying lifestyle.

Simon Leviev aka Shimon Hayut is a swindler, who found unsuspecting victims on ever-popular Tinder. One right swipe changes the life of these three women, who came on board for this documentary. Exposing this fraud takes courage, as Internet is a brutal place that could eat these supposed ‘gold-diggers’ alive. But they dare. Also, on social media, these women find support and a tool to serve justice.

Every other day one reads of a Facebook friend committing a financial fraud; Simon Leviev’s story is one such, full on glamour and style. A page just out of a romcom – too good to be true. A billionaire jetting you off to a foreign locale on the very first date, all wishes coming true with throwing a penny at Trevi Fountain in Rome!

Stringed together with narration from Cecilie and Pernilla’s interviews, Whatsapp texts, pictures and videos, it makes one go through the high of a new relationship to a heartbreak, panned across super-scenic cityscape of London, Sofia, Oslo, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Mykonos, Tel Aviv and Munich.

Hugely under debt, and cheated, the two women work towards bringing the guilty to the book. One values how the Norwegian journalists Natalie Remøe Hansen and others from VG, one of the biggest of Oslo’s newspapers, help out. There is prep, planning and risk. As the story is out, Ayleen, dating Simon Leviev for past 14 months, comes across one of the stories put out in seven countries. Fearless, Ayleen is out to swindle the swindler; even if it is just token justice?

The beautifully put together crime documentary is intriguing. It’s like a well-written script, only it happened in real life. Courtesy the OTT, documentaries as a genre have gained currency lately. The Tinder Swindler, even if not a cruel crime saga, is another step in that direction. Trending amongst the top 10 on Netflix is the story of conned women who aren’t taking it lying down and are out to save others from meeting the same fate.

A telling commentary on stakes in love and life, it scintillates at the same time. Morris makes it an engaging watch even though it’s rather long at about two hours. Anyone on a dating site is in for a rude awakening, and probably thanking their stars for not having fallen prey to a schemer. While Tinder has been given a clean chit by Cecilie; to borrow Milton’s words – dating online is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven!

While the three women get a sense of justice, the Swindler is out after serving only a third of his sentence, hurts a bit. Watch it for lessons like ‘don’t always trust the Google results’, and to enjoy the meme fest going on social media!