By John Corrado
The 2026 Hot Docs Film Festival runs from April 23rd to May 3rd in Toronto
The world is facing a loneliness epidemic, with people starved for connection but struggling to meet each other in real life. Dating apps are filling that void, but come with their own set of challenges; these apps have given seemingly more options than ever, but don’t necessarily translate into meaningful IRL connections.
This is the subject that is explored in Love Apptually, the latest technology-focused documentary from filmmaker Shalini Kantayya. Kantayya previously explored similar themes in her films Coded Bias and TikTok, Boom., and this is another engaging look at our relationships to new technology.
Built around French journalist Judith Duportail’s investigations into the algorithms behind dating apps, spurred on by her own experiences using them, Love Apptually offers a deep dive into how they work. Despite the illusion of choice, Match Group – the company behind Match.com – basically holds a monopoly on online dating, having bought up the bulk of the rival platforms, including Tinder and Hinge.
The apps operate off the dopamine hit of matching with someone, but how they determine who matches with whom tells a different story, with each user being given a hidden “desirability” rating that determines who they will see. In the case of Tinder, it used to be based on ELO scores used for chess players. There’s also the dark side of how much data the apps are collecting. For example, Grindr was caught selling the personal information of its users, including HIV status.
Beyond the traditional swipe right platforms, Kantayya also goes into exploring Nevermet, a dating app within the Metaverse where digital avatars can meet and fall in love. The film also imagines an even more digitized future where people will fall in love with AI companions at even higher rates, or even a possible scenario where AI “concierges” will simply find matches and do the dating for you.
Kantayya uses clips from classic movie romances (yes, including Love Actually) and other sleek visuals to keep Love Apptually entertaining, while also being informative. Taken alongside her previous two documentaries Coded Bias and TikTok, Boom., the filmmaker has crafted a solid trilogy of films exploring modern technology.
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