Biographical dramas must walk a fine line. They have to bring the true story of a real-life person to the screen, with its fictional embellishments, of course, and make it worthwhile and engaging to watch. Swiped, about Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd (Lily James), does some of that particularly well. There is never a dull moment in the film, especially for those who aren’t as familiar with her story.

Director Rachel Lee Goldenberg — who co-wrote the script with Bill Parker and Kim Caramele — explores more than Wolfe’s rise in the tech industry. It’s bold enough to delve into her misogynistic treatment by men, as well as her own treatment of women who were lower than her on the tech ladder. Swiped spends the majority of its time following Whitney’s time at Tinder, the dating app that famously employed the swipe right/left user function.

She joins as the vice president of marketing and works hard to push Tinder on college campuses. A big part of the app’s success is attributed to her, and it isn’t long before she’s made co-founder by the start-up’s head, Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer) — much to the dissatisfaction of her aggressively jealous boyfriend and fellow co-founder Justin (Tell Me Lies’ Jackson White, perfectly suited for the role), who treats her so horribly that it drives her out of the company. This leads her to work with Andrey Andreev (Dan Stevens), the head of Badoo, another dating app.

Swiped Isn’t A Significant Biopic, But It Gets Its Point Across

That all sounds straightforward, and it is, and Swiped embraces the semi-feel-good route, not unlike Flamin’ H๏τ, another Hulu biopic that follows the alleged inventor of Flamin’ H๏τ Cheetos. Goldenberg takes some liberties with the story, especially since Wolfe Herd was still under a non-disclosure agreement after filing a lawsuit for Sєxual harᴀssment. The real tension comes from Whitney’s volatile relationship with Justin, who reveals his disdain for the attention she gets — outside and within the company. It’s uncomfortable to watch as Whitney manages his outbursts, and the film is good at underscoring how that affects her work environment.

I appreciated that the biopic attempted to have conversations about privilege, intersectional feminism, and the Sєxist behavior that women can exhibit if it means getting ahead. It’s only when the misogyny starts affecting Whitney’s ability to work that she takes issue with it, something Tish (Myha’la), her friend and coworker, brings up later in the film. These conversations are merely surface-level, however, scratching the surface of bigger issues. But at least the film doesn’t neglect them, building toward a nice full-circle ending that addresses such things.

Wolfe Herd’s blind spots are highlighted, which makes for a more fascinating film than your average biopic. It isn’t very deep, and everything leads to an ending that ties things up too neatly. And yet there is enough buildup to justify Whitney’s big moment. I didn’t walk away from the film feeling like I knew Wolfe Herd very well, but I understood her and where she was coming from.

What the film captures interestingly well is the millennial idea of graduating from college, trying to change the world, and doing something more meaningful than a regular job might provide. It obliterates that idea, as Whitney wanted to help orphans and ended up working on dating apps instead. It’s a shame, then, that the film barely explores that sense of disappointment that comes with facing the reality of working.

The biopic opts for a simple approach and doesn’t deviate too much from it. Had the film explored its themes and Wolfe Herd’s life a bit further, we may have gotten something more complex. There’s much to say about the tech industry and its rampant misogyny, as well as intersectional feminism. And while the film doesn’t tackle it with the nuance it deserves, the fact it’s a big plot point is a good start.

All told, Swiped is a conventional, even hopeful biopic. Lily James is great in the lead role, as is the supporting cast. The film loosely employs Wolfe Herd’s career — for better and worse — and what we get is a dramatized version of the story that may not be revelatory, but might make you feel good regardless.

Swiped premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It will be available to steam on Hulu on September 19.