Deep Fake Love gives audiences a look at dating, not through an app like everyone is used to, but by using AI to modify images. What we see in this reality series is not so much how relationships are tested but how AI can take over our lives and manipulate our minds. This series is seen as controversial because of how it’s executed. It has caused many conversations on social media, especially the question of whether the reality TV Show is ‘real or scripted’ and the locations that were used for filming.
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Where was Deep Fake Love on Netflix filmed?
The show is Spanish, so the natural assumption is that the show would save on the budget by filming locally in Spain.
The opening episode, where we see the contestants introduced, seems to be on a beach in front of some large palm trees that could be Spain. The irony here is the location has been kept secret, so just like the players on the show, we don’t really know what is real and what is fake.
Other sources have stated that the show was filmed in the Dominican Republic. The exterior shots of the villas could be deep fake themselves, and we see B roll of palm trees, the ocean, and an odd shot of vultures in a tree. You can find vultures in Spain but also in the Dominican, so if the footage was shot on location, it could be in either spot.
It seems that Deep Fake Love has been filmed in secret, possibly embracing its own premise and keeping audiences guessing.
The host of Deep Fake Love Season 1, Raquel Sánchez Silva – Image Courtesy of Netflix
Is Deep Fake Love on Netflix scripted or real?
The reality show has drawn criticism for feeling scripted, which then leads to accusations of it actually being scripted. After all, making out that someone’s significant other is cheating on them is highly manipulative and emotionally charged, which leads to the thought that the couples involved know exactly what’s going on at all times to prevent them from being upset.
Ever since the show was announced by Netflix, people have been wondering whether this was scripted or natural content. However, the promotional material for the show has been billed as being unscripted, meaning that for a large proportion of the show, the producers have very limited control over what the contestants do or say.
There will likely be some control over the filming of the show, and producers might nudge the cast to talk about certain issues during conversations, especially during one-on-one confessionals and small group settings, to raise some drama.
The deepfake videos during the show are, of course, made up; they’re responsible for making false and misleading moments, like when Aida and Torres making out in the pool when, in reality, they are staring into each other’s eyes.
But this manufactured nature is needed since that’s the basic premise of the show. Viewers are told what has been fictionalized so they’re never kept in the dark; the only ones duped are the couples.
As the couples on Deep Fake Love have to put themselves through upsetting and traumatic situations to generate some drama and conflict for Netflix, it’s likely that some people might think that it’s scripted in order to preserve the relationships on the show and to make sure that they weren’t actually hurting anyone. Here are some reactions on social media:
I don’t think I’ve seen something as profoundly wrong and unethical as the show “Deep fake Love”.
If this is 100% real, I’m actually disgusted. There are really folks that were entertained by seeing people repeatedly be bludgeoned emotionally FOR WHAT ???— A question is Not a statement. (@Aymeric_SLG) July 10, 2023
Deep Fake Love is scary bc if they can do this for reality tv, can’t they get real ppl in trouble?
— Hott (@tonyahtopaz) July 31, 2023
Netflix is wild for their show “Deep Fake Love”.
Telling people to guess if a video of their partner cheating is real or a deep fake is sick. SMH— Victor Newman II (@d_weezy) July 8, 2023
My thing is why would you go on a show called deep fake love WITH your partner of 10 years where you need to decide whether the images of them are real or fake – making out with different people? So sorry that’s unsolicited trauma but I’m gonna watch it regardless sorryyyy
— HS (@baIdjeet) July 17, 2023
Deep Fake Love Season 1 Review and Format of the Reality TV Show
Deep Fake Love’s premise is unlike anything audiences have seen before. There are five couples: Paula, Javi, Isabel, Ruben, Aida, Manu, Gabriela, Angel, Alejandro, and Ramon.
Manuel and Aida have been together for a year and a half and were en route to planning their wedding.
The couples who have been together for the shortest amount of time are Isa and Ruben; he proposed to her after eight months of knowing her. They wanted to be on this reality show, but they’ve both struggled in finding a person who can understand them.
Javi and Paula had been together for nine years, and there have been some shady moments on Javi’s part. Paula says that she can forgive but not forget, which puts their relationship to the test, given the deep fake technology.
Gabriela and Angel have been together for five years, the same as Alejandro and Ramon, and appear to be the perfect couple. Just because you label something as perfect doesn’t mean there aren’t any cracks waiting to come out. The show tests them in more ways than one.
It is a steamy reality series that manipulates what their significant other sees. So they put the couples to these through technological enhancement by blurring the line of truth and lies in a cash prize game.
They take couples and split them into two villas along the beach. They move into the villas, and the first half of the significant others find out that there are single people invited to the mansion. Here, they test how loyal they are to their significant others living in the other villa without them knowing… or do they know?
This is where the gimmick of the reality show comes in; the host, Raquel Sanchez Silva, drops the bomb on them and says that the footage could have been tampered with deep fake technology. So it’s the ultimate test of trusting your partner.
After the second half finds out about the shenanigans from the other house, they switch, and the process happens all over again. The winning couple will be the ones who can name the fake scenario with the deep fake versus the reality of it.
The concept of Deep Fake Love is interesting but also really manipulative and harmful to the partners. Even though it’s just a reality show, seeing someone you love with someone else can cause serious psychological damage.
You have to be mentally prepared to be part of this series or even to watch it. In short, based on the concept alone, the series doesn’t work too well as a reality show and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
If you are interested in the concept of the reality show, then the first two episodes will explain the gist of it. Or else the rest of the season is just uncomfortable to watch because of how far the deep fake technology goes to manipulate the minds of the contestants and their significant others.
It’s the manipulation of the footage that makes this unsettling and really not worth the watch. They purposely put people in an unlikely situation to test their relationship and it just feels wrong on so many levels.
