Longest Third Date review: When COVID-19 played cupid to a couple brought together by a dating app

3.5/5

Story: Khani Le and Matthew Robertson meet on Hinge and jet off to Costa Rica for their third date. What was to be a five-day-long holiday turns into a testing 79 days together thanks to the coronavirus-imposed lockdown in early 2020. An extended stay in paradise becomes the ultimate test of compatibility.

Review: The coronavirus-induced lockdowns in 2020 were hard to get through with loved ones in the comfort and familiarity of our own homes. But imagine being stranded in a foreign country for 79 days with someone you barely know.

This was the bizarre reality that Americans Khani Le and Matthew Robertson faced. The couple met on the dating app Hinge, and for Khani, the first two dates with Matt were out of the ordinary — they went to an Indian restaurant on their first date and to throw axes on their second. Imagine her surprise when Matt suggested they fly to Costa Rica for their third date, then imagine his surprise when Khani actually said yes!

Matt is an avid vlogger who documents what seems like every waking moment. An adventure seeker, he probably never imagined that the biggest adventure of his life would be the result of a whim: asking a girl he had gone on just two dates with to spend five days with him.

This was in March 2020, just before COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. Like most people, Matt and Khani didn’t take the virus too seriously initially, not even when the flight they boarded was almost completely empty.

Although they were awkward around each other initially, Khani and Matt started to warm up to each other on their tropical vacation, and everything was going well until, on day four, they found out that their flight was cancelled due to travel restrictions in the US.

When the hotel they were staying in forces them out, Matt gets creative and finds one Airbnb property after another across Costa Rica, and he takes Khani along with him on many adventures and some misadventures as well.

Through it all, Matt and Khani finally begin letting their guard down, opening up to each other, and a forced situation seems to become an ideal one... Or is it?

When Matt uploads a video introducing Khani on his YouTube page, their story goes viral, with every big news portal looking to interview them. So much so that people even start recognising them. People across the world start rooting for the couple and singing praises of their "love story", all while no declarations of love or even affection have taken place between Matt and Khani.

How do Matt and Khani deal with this sudden attention to their personal lives? And what will happen to their relationship when they finally leave Costa Rica and go back to their lives?

Fate certainly seems to be one word that one would use to describe this couple — two completely different people, with different interests and personalities, having just one thing in common: not wanting to be in a committed relationship.

Verdict: Matt’s documentation of what seems like pretty much every minute of his time together with Khani in Costa Rica and Khani being okay with it seems quite surreal. But Longest Third Date is eventually a feel-good, easy, breezy watch that truly has you rooting for the couple. If you haven’t read about the couple earlier, it makes for a surprising watch, with several is-this-for-real? moments. There are definitely worse ways to spend 75 minutes, so give this documentary a watch if you’re the type that believes in fate.