Movie Review - Killer Date

Killer Date

AKA:  Swipe

AKA:  Wrong Swipe

2016

Cartel Pictures / MarVista Entertainment / The Cartel

Tugg / Lifetime Television / MarVista Entertainment

6.50 / 10

This is a well thought out tech based mystery thriller.  Anna, played by Anna Hutchison, is a loner with very little social life and no lover.  Her sister Sasha, portrayed by Karissa Lee Staples, repeatedly tells her this isn't good for her, so one night she creates a "Swipe" profile for her.  Swipe is an app that shares your profile with other users with the intention of meeting up.  If you like a certain user you swipe right and if they do the same then when you are in each other's vicinity you both get a message saying they're close.  Unfortunately for Anna, it's an ideal tool for a stalker to strike fear into their prey.

What makes this so good is the realness of the story.  You could quite easily see something like this happening.  Add in numerous swipes and your victim list keeps growing.  How can we be really sure that the profile and the picture you see is for a real person and not a created persona?  Just think Ted Bundy for the Tech-Age.

Writers Sophie Tilson and Shanrah Wakefield do a great job of showing the dangers of this kind of communication and contact.  They bring through a plethora of men, all of which are different, some are sexual predators, some are persistent to the point of bullying, and some are okay.    But which is stalking Anna?  There are twists upon twists as her investigation and the police's starts ruling out suspects.

Director Mathew Leutwyler uses these twists and turns as well as the apps distance notification to create a tense atmosphere.  However, I believe the movie could have been stronger had the pace been more varied and some better camerawork, something other than the straightforward point shoot and pan.

Though Anna Hutchison is the lead and is very good in the role it's Karissa Lee Staples who is the strongest actress in the movie and had a wider range of emotion and skills.  Unfortunately, the lower you get in the cast the worse the acting gets.  It's not a bad thing to do when working on a budget and the worst is only on for a few minutes or seconds, though if you remember them as I did, it only leads to weakening the film.

On the whole, this is a respectable and watchable movie.  If you enjoy mysteries then this will be right up your street.  If you're looking for an intriguing and interesting movie to watch then you might want to consider this one.