What if Céline Song’s Materialists were set in China rather than the United States? In an extremely traditional country where the number of men exceeds that of women, matchmakers have become a necessity for chronically single men in search of love.
Violet Du Feng’s documentary follows three young people who enroll in an intensive boot camp run by the country’s most famous matchmaker, a blunt figure who, aided by new technologies, conceals the men’s true personalities behind an unattainable masculine ideal.
Moving between tenderness, astonishment, and unintentional comedy, the film places the viewer before a succession of strange situations that reveal the deep contradictions within Chinese culture when it comes to love and traditional couple roles.
Screened at Sundance, The Dating Game emerges as a sharp and agile documentary, reminding us that no matter how many Instagram filters we apply, personality remains the most effective calling card.
Credits
Year: 2025
Runtime: 92′
Country: USA, Norway, United Kingdom, China
Direction: Violet Du Feng
Screenplay: Violet Du Feng, John Farbrother
Cinematography: Wei Gao
Subtitles: Ana Ruiz Pérez, Carmen Gálvez Martínez, Marta Caixal Carmona
Genre: Documentary
Contact: Cinephil
Wins & nominations
2025 | Sundance Film Festival
2025 | San Francisco Film Festival
2025 | Zurich Film Festival
