Match (2025) Review
SWIPE FOR YOUR FINAL DATE! You’ll want to delete your dating apps after experiencing this ‘Match’ made in Hell. After Paola (Humberly González) connects with a handsome guy online, she arrives for their first date to discover a building full of dark and terrifying secrets.
Starring Humberly González (Ginny & Georgia), Shaeane Jimenez (Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen), Dianne Simpson (The Rats: A Witcher Tale), Jacques Adriaanse (American Monster) and Luke Volker (Clickbait: Unfollowed). Match is written by Jon & Al Kaplan (Terrifier 3) and directed by Danishka Esterhazy (2021’s Slumber Party Massacre remake). Featuring jaw-dropping prosthetics from Dreamsmith’s Jaco Snyman (Mad Max: Fury Road).
There are elements of Match that bring to mind one of the more outstanding episodes of The X-Files, the brilliantly unsettling “Home”. There are twists aplenty here, plenty of dark humour, and a great deal of fun to be had, making this an entertaining slice of Saturday-night horror that knows exactly what it wants to be.
The story centres on Paola, who finds herself under increasing pressure to meet Mr Right. Her father believes he is at death’s door and, desperate to see a grandchild before he dies, puts Paola under more than a little pressure. After enduring a series of disastrous dates, she finally appears to have struck gold when a man who seems almost too good to be true matches with her on a dating app.
Of course, anyone familiar with horror knows that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
What begins as a seemingly promising romance quickly develops into a literal nightmare when Paola meets ‘Mum’ and the horrific truth behind her seemingly perfect match begins to reveal itself. From this point, Match gleefully embraces its more outrageous side, becoming increasingly gooey, gruesome and, at times, deliberately taboo. There are moments that will certainly make some viewers squirm, but the film also understands that horror can be a lot of fun when it is willing to push the boundaries.
The potential dangers of online dating and apps are hardly unexplored territory, and Match certainly isn’t the first horror film to mine this particular subject. What makes it work is the way it combines familiar themes with plenty of twists and a willingness to take its story into some decidedly unexpected territory.
The performances suit the material perfectly, with Dianne Simpson particularly enjoyable as Henry’s mother, Lucille. She is a constant joy to watch, delivering a succession of splendid put-downs while the increasingly disturbing circumstances surrounding her and her son begin to unravel. The cast clearly understand the tone of the film, striking the right balance between the horror and the darker comedic elements.
Match may not be reinventing the dating-app horror movie, but it doesn’t need to. This is a film that knows how to entertain, and there is considerable fun to be had as its seemingly innocent premise takes a series of increasingly horrific turns. It gets gooey, it gets pleasingly gory, and it isn’t afraid to venture into taboo territory.
If you’re looking for some Saturday-night horror entertainment with plenty of twists, some suitably nasty moments and a wicked sense of fun, Match is certainly worth a swipe.
Match is yours to own from Aug 24. Distributed by Signature Entertainment
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