An Unsettling Case of Calculated Manipulation

Read Time:7 Minute, 45 Second

TV SERIES REVIEW
Swipe Right on the Devil
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Genre: True Crime, Documentary
Year: 2026
Runtime: 3 x 1h episodes
Director: Brian Biegel
Where to Watch: series premieres October 22, 2026 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers in the U.S., and on Disney+ internationally

RAVING REVIEW: Dating apps are supposed to make meeting someone easier, but anyone who's used one knows the experience isn't always pleasant. Between awkward conversations, questionable profiles, and the occasional disastrous date, there's already enough to worry about without imagining that the person on the other side of the screen might have something sinister in mind. For 24-year-old Sydney Loofe, an ordinary decision to meet someone through Tinder in November 2017 became the beginning of a horrifying criminal case that would eventually attract national attention. Director Brian Biegel revisits her story in SWIPE RIGHT ON THE DEVIL, a three-part Hulu documentary that examines a disappearance involving manipulation, unsettling beliefs, and people whose behavior becomes almost impossible to comprehend.

There's no shortage of true crime documentaries about missing persons, serial killers, suspicious relationships, and investigations that uncover increasingly unpleasant details. Some approach their subjects with care, while others seem interested in finding the next revelation to keep audiences watching. SWIPE RIGHT ON THE DEVIL lands somewhere between those approaches, delivering a genuinely unsettling account of a terrible crime while occasionally leaning a little too heavily into the sensational aspects that make the case so unusual.

Sydney lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, when she connected with a woman on Tinder under a fake name (Audrey). The two met for a date on November 14, 2017, and planned to meet the following evening again. When Sydney failed to show up for work on November 16, her family and friends grew concerned, especially after attempts to contact her went unanswered. Attention soon turned to the woman she'd arranged to meet, and information from Sydney's friends helped investigators identify Audrey as Bailey Boswell. Authorities later established a connection between Boswell and Aubrey Trail, a man with whom she lived in Wilber, Nebraska. What began as a missing-person investigation involving a dating app soon expanded as Boswell and Trail's relationship became an increasingly important part of understanding what happened to Sydney.

Sydney's disappearance underpins the series, but the investigation quickly reveals a much larger story involving Bailey Boswell and Aubrey Trail. Their relationship, the influence they exerted over others, and the bizarre beliefs tied to their activities make up much of the documentary's final episode and a half. The references to witchcraft, mind control, and black magic are almost impossible to believe when you first hear them. They sound like scenes from an especially twisted horror movie, except these were real people, and the consequences couldn't have been more serious. These aren't supernatural events; the documentary follows real people whose actions devastated others.

The manipulation surrounding Boswell and Trail adds another disturbing dimension to the investigation. It's difficult enough to understand how someone becomes involved with people exhibiting such disturbing behavior, let alone how that involvement can develop into something even more dangerous. The documentary raises important questions about vulnerability, coercion, and the psychological influence one person can establish over another. Those questions also make the story far more complicated than a woman going on a date with the wrong person. Reducing Sydney's experience to that single decision would be doing both her and the circumstances surrounding the investigation a disservice.

Biegel has plenty of material to work with, and presenting the case across three episodes gives the documentary room to establish the situation without cramming everything into a feature-length production. The investigation itself offers plenty to examine, especially as authorities confront information that takes the case well beyond an ordinary missing-person examination. The involvement of experienced investigators also reinforces how unusual the circumstances were, even for people whose careers have exposed them to some of the worst things imaginable.

It's also worth examining how investigators approach situations that initially offer little certainty. Missing-person cases involve enormous pressure, particularly when families are waiting for answers, and the available information offers few explanations. That human element deserves as much attention as the unusual circumstances that eventually attract public interest. Audiences may come for the documentary's title, but the investigation and the people affected by Sydney's disappearance offer more meaningful reasons to stay invested.

The stranger the discoveries become, the easier it is for the documentary's attention to drift toward the people responsible for the crime rather than the young woman whose disappearance brought everything to light. The references to witchcraft and black magic are fascinating in an uncomfortable way, and Biegel understandably spends time examining how these beliefs became intertwined with the people involved. However, the bizarre nature of those claims occasionally overshadows the manipulation and abuse behind them. SWIPE RIGHT ON THE DEVIL never abandons Sydney's story, but there are moments when the documentary seems a little too fascinated with just how disturbing its subject is. The reality of the case is already horrifying, and understanding the people involved matters far more than emphasizing their strangest behavior.

Sydney deserves to be remembered as a person, not just another name attached to an especially gruesome crime. She was 24 years old, had a life beyond the circumstances of her disappearance, and made a decision that millions of people make without experiencing anything like this. Framing stories like hers as warnings about online dating can unintentionally suggest the victim should have recognized something that wasn't necessarily recognizable. Responsibility belongs to those who deliberately exploit another person's trust, not to someone who believed they were meeting an ordinary potential romantic partner.

The title itself illustrates some of that tension. SWIPE RIGHT ON THE DEVIL is certainly memorable, and it immediately communicates the combination of dating apps and something sinister. It's also a rather theatrical description of a real-life tragedy. The production occasionally shares that same heightened sensibility, particularly when discussing the investigation's more unusual elements. It includes enough genuinely horrifying information without framing every development as another descent into unimaginable darkness.

Another limitation comes from the structure. Three episodes give enough time to explore the case, but the material doesn't always need the same level of dramatic emphasis. True-crime documentaries often hold information back to build suspense, even when the surrounding circumstances already hold an audience's attention. Here, a more straightforward presentation in certain stretches would've benefited the overall experience. The investigation, the relationships involved, and the psychological questions surrounding the case provide sufficient substance without every development needing to carry the weight of another major revelation.

The documentary remains an engaging examination of an extraordinarily troubling crime. Its greatest strength lies in the broader understanding that the danger wasn't simply a stranger encountered through technology. The dating app provided an introduction, but the behavior that followed belongs to a much older, more complicated history of exploitation, manipulation, and people taking advantage of others' willingness to trust them. Focusing exclusively on Tinder would make for an easier story, but it would also overlook the case's more disturbing realities.

SWIPE RIGHT ON THE DEVIL is an engaging, unsettling examination of a case that becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend. Biegel occasionally gives its more sensational elements more attention than necessary. The investigation and the people affected by Sydney's disappearance provide enough substance to make this three-part documentary worth watching. The case is horrifying without embellishment, and its lasting impact comes from showing how easily trust can be exploited. Sydney's story deserves to remain at the forefront, even when the behavior of those responsible threatens to overshadow everything else. What remains is an unsettling reminder of how easily trust can be exploited, and why the person at the heart of a true-crime documentary should never become less important than the people responsible for putting them there.

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[photo courtesy of HULU, DISNEY+]

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