The Dating Game

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The Dating Game

2025

1h 30m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

73%

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22 Reviews

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Set in China, where eligible men outnumber women by over 30 million, The Dating Game is the story of Zhou, Li, and Wu, three bachelors embarking on a seven-day dating camp, led by Hao, one of China's most sought-after dating coaches. In their last-ditch effort to find love, the bachelors chuckle and bond as Hao makes them over, altering how they look and act online--and in real life. It's all part of Hao's signature "strategic deception," a series of techniques designed to, purportedly, make humans connect. Hao's credentials? Hao successfully wooed Wen, a stylish, educated city-girl--a real catch who is now his wife. As our three bachelors stumble through the camp's awkward challenges, they try to make sense of their authentic and constructed selves, and find the self-confidence they need to land that date.

John Anderson

Wall Street Journal

22h

Rather than assume some grandiose overview, or pretend that her film is some exhaustive study, Ms. Du Feng takes the personal-anecdotal approach.

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Monica Castillo

RogerEbert.com

01/31/2025

The film balances the reality of these experiences with compassion, a sense of humor, and quiet observation, giving the subjects a chance to reflect on their own behaviors and memories.

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Bilge Ebiri

New York Magazine/Vulture

01/27/2025

In an openly phony world, who cares about being genuine? The Dating Game captures that idea in deceptively chilling fashion.

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Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

4d

As a result of wanting to include so much, The Dating Game loses its way a few times and is imbalanced in its structure.

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Stephen Silver

The SS Ben Hecht

Oct 31

“I mean, they’ve got the same incels over there we’ve got here, it’s just the little differences.”

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Marissa Hill

Shade Studios

Jul 30

While the film offers valuable insights into the gender imbalance and social pressures that shape the dating experiences of lower-class men, it falls short in providing a thorough examination of Hao’s methods and their long-term effectiveness.

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Violet Du Feng

Director

John Farbrother

Writer

Joanna Natasegara

Producer

James Costa

Producer

Mette Cheng Munthe Kaas

Producer

Violet Du Feng

Producer

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Synopsis

Set in China, where eligible men outnumber women by over 30 million, The Dating Game is the story of Zhou, Li, and Wu, three bachelors embarking on a seven-day dating camp, led by Hao, one of China's most sought-after dating coaches. In their last-ditch effort to find love, the bachelors chuckle and bond as Hao makes them over, altering how they look and act online--and in real life. It's all part of Hao's signature "strategic deception," a series of techniques designed to, purportedly, make humans connect. Hao's credentials? Hao successfully wooed Wen, a stylish, educated city-girl--a real catch who is now his wife. As our three bachelors stumble through the camp's awkward challenges, they try to make sense of their authentic and constructed selves, and find the self-confidence they need to land that date.

Director: Violet Du Feng
Producer: Joanna Natasegara, James Costa, Mette Cheng Munthe Kaas, Violet Du Feng
Screenwriter: John Farbrother
Distributor: Fish + Bear Pictures
Production Co: Fish + Bear Pictures, Violet Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 30m