Longest Third Date is an upcoming documentary from the streaming service Netflix that quite literally sums up its plot with its title.
In general, third dates usually consist of dinner, drinks, and maybe a movie. They also serve as the perfect time to decide if you actually want to invest more time with that person in the future. But what if your third date lasts much longer than you expect, with no way of escaping each other? Well, that's exactly what happened between Khani Le and Matt Robertson, who decided to opt for a bit of adventure by spontaneously heading on a last-minute trip to Costa Rica for their third date. Sounds romantic enough. But they took the trip in March 2020, right at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, which they didn't realise would shut down borders across the world and, ultimately, force them to remain together in Costa Rica for the foreseeable future.
Directed by Brent Hodge, Longest Third Date, has been described as an "unexpected social experiment" and "modern-day rom-com", with its story of two strangers' journey to find love, which saw them amid the ultimate test of compatibility during unprecedented times.
If you thought having to spend all that time alone with someone who you don't know that well sounds like a nightmare, the trailer for the documentary shows that the pair definitely had their lows too. The trailer begins with the pair detailing their previous dating experiences and how they matched together on the dating app Hinge. For the first date, they had drinks, second, they went axe-throwing, and then things went from "zero to one hundred real quick", with them deciding to embark on a quick trip to Costa Rica. "You only live once," Matt tells the camera his thought process at the time before adding, "What's the worst that can happen?" Well, that happened to be the coronavirus pandemic, which saw their flight back home cancelled and their hotel kicking them out, forcing them to move in together.
Over the following weeks, scenes show the pair butting heads, running out of things to discuss and generally feeling overwhelmed. Soon, things turn around with the duo finding new ways to keep themselves preoccupied. However, concerns still came to the forefront, with Khani admitting that she didn't know whether they would stay together after they flew back home.
The clips from the movie were edited and produced from the extensive video footage captured by aspiring vlogger Matt, which offers viewers a real insight into their lives during that period. During Netflix's TUDUM event, directed Brent said: "I loved hearing about Matt and Khani's story. It begged the question: Can you get to know someone and fall in love during the most bizarre and uncertain time in the world? Their story felt like a real-life rom-com playing out in front of us."
Matt added: "It's crazy how life can get completely turned upside down in a split second. I thought I knew all about pushing outside my comfort zone, but I really had no idea until getting stuck overseas with a girl I barely knew."
Find out if Khani and Matt stayed together when Longest Third Date hits Netflix on 18 April.
