Love Apptually

Filmmaker(s)

Shalini Kantayya – Director

Running Time

Feature Film

81 minutes

Genres

Documentary

Love Apptually

LOVE APPTUALLY follows a French journalist’s journey from early fascination with Tinder to uncovering thedarkside of its algorithm. Through her investigation, the film explores how a multi-billion-dollar tech industry is quietlyrecoding the rules of attraction and reshaping one of humanity’s most intimate pursuits: love.

Set against a global loneliness crisis, dating apps now mediate the emotional lives of millions, yet the systems shaping these interactions remain largely invisible. The film raises fundamental questions about the commercialization of human connection: Who designs these systems? Whose interests are they optimizing for? And at what cost to our humanity?

Filmmaker Notes:

I am drawn to examine the invisible technological systems that shape power in our lives—to see them clearly and better govern them toward human flourishing. With Love Apptually, I explore what happens when the search for connection is mediated by algorithms designed for engagement and profit. The film completes a trilogy examining how technology shapes human experience—from bias in AI (Coded Bias), to viral culture (TikTok, Boom.), to the systems now mediating human intimacy. Across all three, my work asks how we reclaim agency within systems designed to reshape human behavior.

With this film, I investigate how Big Tech has evolved from capturing our attention to shaping our intimacy—and the technologies now pulling the strings of the human heart. Love Apptually traces a journey from enchantment to awareness, revealing not just the mechanics of dating apps, but the deeper ways they shape how we relate, desire, and connect. It asks: who designs these systems, what do they optimize for, and at what cost to our humanity?

Ultimately, Love Apptually is an invitation—to pause, to see clearly, and to choose more consciously how we connect.