Summary
Longest Third Date is an endearing documentary of how two people who hardly knew each other were forced into one of the most bizarre situations.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and more specifically the lockdown of 2020, affected absolutely everyone, and this romance documentary Longest Third Date from Netflix, encapsulates it best. There was no one on the planet who could escape what was happening, and there was no one who was prepared for what the next few years would bring.
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Longest Third Date Review
Longest Third Date starts fairly quickly. You’re introduced to both Matt and Khani in the present day as they are reflecting on meeting each other for the first time. The two originally matched on the dating app Hinge and quickly went on two dates — the first one was to the bar to get drinks, and the second was to go axe throwing.
In this intro, both Matt and Khani relay what initially stood out between the two of them and why they matched in the first place, all before confidently stating that this relationship was always meant to be more of a fling instead of anything real. Then came their third date.
Matt spontaneously asked Khani to fly to Costa Rica for a few days stating how cheap the flights were — they didn’t know then, but as we know now, this is because of the imminent lockdown — and Khani agreed to go; on March 17, 2020, the pair flew out to Costa Rica.
The chemistry between them, at the start, was nonexistent. There was an awkward tension that was felt through the camera that Matt used to vlog their entire adventure. However, over the next few days, the two of them would begin to open up more as they spent their vacation having fun and getting to know each other.
However, their trip that was meant to last a couple of days quickly turned into a couple of months as both Matt and Khani had to learn how to work with each other in order to make this insane situation as digestible as possible.
What is really great about Longest Third Date is the way in which this story is told. Through the use of Matt’s vlogs and the commentary from both Matt and Khani, you aren’t just watching two people in an insane situation trying to survive. You’re watching a couple who, if not put into this situation, likely wouldn’t have made it.
In the beginning, the guards are high, and the chemistry isn’t there, but over the course of the film, the two of them get to know each other and learn to love one another more than they could have ever known.
The idea that they wouldn’t have made it as a couple isn’t a crazy one to think either, as they both, Khani especially, state this multiple times in their talking head interviews. They never wanted to fall in love, and they never thought and they never even thought they would be in a relationship, but as the best love stories go, it happened unwarranted and unexpectedly.
Longest Third Date does an excellent job of not telling the viewer how their story turns out and allows both Matt and Khani the space to tell it how they want to.
Is the documentary Longest Third Date worth watching?
While Longest Third Date might not do anything new to push or challenge what a documentary is or can be, the story it tells is one that is real and engaging. Director Brent Hodge attempts to do some creative work blending in the reality of Matt’s videos with recreations and also trying to make the vlogs come to life a bit more.
All of this adds a bit of flair, but it is when you’re sitting with these two seeing their struggles and small victories that this film really works.
There was plenty of bad when it came to COVID-19, and it is easy to only think about what was lost during that time. Longest Third Date is a beautiful example that maybe not everything was so bad during the pandemic. In a time that was dour and hopeless, both Matt and Khani used a terrible situation to find love in one another.
At a quick hour and fifteen-minute runtime, Longest Third Date is worth the watch.
How was Longest Third Date filmed?
Matt shot most of the documentary on his smartphone and documented his and Khani’s unusual Covid tale on social media. The film comprises archive footage he filmed in Costa Rica and studio interviews of the couple.
When he first met Khani, Matt was a vlogger with a tendency to document every aspect of his life. When he got stuck in Costa Rica during the pandemic, he seized the opportunity to film and publicly post his story on YouTube and Instagram, which gained him quite a following and media interviews even before the Netflix documentary.
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