Third dates usually feel more casual than that depicted in Longest Third Date, but with 2020 shifting everyone’s plans, it’s not surprising it shifted romantic relationships too. The documentary doesn’t feel like a factual and organized documentary, cobbled up together from the couple’s vlog and filmed interviews once they got back to the States, but it’s definitely a unique story, one that’s only been saved because of Matt’s influencer aspirations. It’s certainly watchable, with a spry 75-minute runtime, and with understandable conflicts, like flight cancellations and tipped over cars. The film does feel like it glosses things over, and Khani seems to be the private type of person, uncomfortable with the camera, but Longest Third Date, even with all its reality TV style, also feels somewhat like a cultural artifact. It’s not deep, but it does feel like opening a time capsule.
When Khani and Matt met on a dating app, they had no idea COVID-19 would turn their spur-of-the-moment trip to Costa Rica into a months-long adventure.
After two successful dates, Matt and Khani decide to spontaneously fly to Costa Rica for their third date. Things go well… until they’re stuck when the world shuts down in March 2020.
Longest Third Date is a documentary, but it feels more like a vlog-reality TV mix than one. Of course, this is understandable. Most of the footage comes from Matt’s filming, and he didn’t exactly have a whole film crew with him in March 2020. The rest are filmed after the fact, with interviews with each of the duo and their respective friends. Because of this, it does definitely feel curated, the same way social media profiles would depict relationships. The film doesn’t delve into the difficult parts that they might have had, any conflicts that would make other movies emotionally resonant. That being said, of course, being a depiction of an actual, ongoing relationship, it’s understandable that they wouldn’t reveal everything and maintain their privacy. Longest Third Date thankfully recognizes this and mainly focuses on the lighthearted aspects in a fast enough pace.
“Maybe you can live a little longer and die, like, adequate,” – yeah, I’m going to be using this quote from now on.
