Abhiroop Das
‘F Marry Kill‘ follows Eva Vaugh, whose growing addiction to true-crime podcasts, particularly the news about the serial killer at large in Boulder, Colorado, leads her to believe that one of her dates is behind the killings. Her speed dating spree following her inability to get over a breakup leads her to three eccentric men: Mitch, the bar owner; Norman, the security specialist; and Kyle, a veterinarian. Subsequently, she begins to look deeper, hoping to find a clue that connects them to the Swipe Right killer, who exclusively targets women by luring them onto dating platforms. Eva makes hard decisions one after another, often dependent on paranoia over insight. Yet, in the end, she keeps running into a wall of red herrings, with the killer’s true identity seemingly always out of reach. SPOILERS AHEAD.
F Marry Kill is a Fictional Story About Catching a Serial Killer
‘F Marry Kill’ is an entirely fictional story developed by Ivan Diaz, Dan Scheinkman, and Meghan Brown. Directly addressing the narrative’s separation from reality, actor Lucy Hale commented during an interview with Collider, “This is a movie. If a girl finds out there’s a serial killer on the loose, odds are that she’d delete the apps. She’s not trying to be the woman who figures it all out.” Thus, she points out that the protagonist’s heroism and daring ventures are both a dramatized rendition of what might happen in such a scenario. While the movie has no direct real-life antecedents, it is possibly vaguely inspired by many serial killer stories, which holds significance for Eva, as she is described as a true crime enthusiast.
In particular, accounts where the killer baited their victims via social media or dating apps might have been used as a reference to the film’s narrative. Some of the serial killers to gain notoriety through similar methods include Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, who used a social media app called Tagged to lure three women to secluded places in and around Orange, New Jersey, before killing them. Wheeler was identified after the friends of one of his victims managed to find him and then set up a fake account to lure him into meeting them, eventually notifying the police. This is somewhat close to the actions of Eva’s friends in the movie, who all work in unison to save her from imminent trouble. However, the difference in their approach makes the real case an unlikely inspiration.
Another case that shows some vague resemblance is that of Kane Fairbank, the serial killer, who, just like Wheeler-Weaver and the fictional Swipe Right, used a dating platform, this time Tinder, to scope and lure his victims. However, on May 12, 2022, one of his victims, Hadlie Monroe, managed to fight back and escape. She described waking up after unconsciousness to find a knife at her throat and Kane facing him. While the scene is reminiscent of Eva’s clash with Kelly in the film, with the latter attempting to kill her best friend, the scenes have completely different contexts, thus making the connection unlikely and maintaining the film’s fictional character. Kelly’s motivations in Swipe Right do not have any real-life counterparts, which makes sense as the process described in the movie is a particularly complex one, which would be hard to pull off.
Eva Carves Out a New Future at the End of F Marry Kill
In an interview with Film Updates, director Laura Murphy and actors Lucy Hale and Virginia Gardener, who play Eva and Kelly, respectively, revealed their favorite True Crime shows and podcasts. The 2018 documentary ‘Wild Wild Country,’ along with 2023’s ‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,’ 2015’s ‘Jinx,’ and the 1992 television show ‘Dateline’ came up as the top picks. In the movie, information about the serial killer is updated in real-time by a passionate duo of true crime researchers, Molly and John, who host a podcast called ‘Mark My Murder,’ which Eva eventually co-hosts. It is possible that this podcast is a composite of true-crime podcasts such as ‘True Crime Garage,’ hosted by Nic and Patrick Edwards, and ‘Casefile True Crime,’ hosted by Casey. While they both follow a similar narrative format, they are not based in Boulder, Colorado, and thus likely not the direct reference for their fictional counterpart.
During her first recording session for ‘Mark My Murder,’ Eva is described as a novelist who has published a non-fiction bestseller. This book, seemingly inspired by her lived experiences, might be inspired by books of a similar nature. This includes survivors’ accounts, such as 2023’s ‘Stolen From Sunset,’ published in 2023, and Christine Blasey Ford’s 2024 ‘One Way Back.’ The former has further significance, as it features the real story of Morgan Rowan, who survived two attacks from the infamous Dating Game killer, Rodney Alcala. While the serial killer’s nickname is similar to Swipe Right’s, in actuality, it refers to the dating game show that Rodney participated in during his murder spree. Thus, while there are many real-life cases in the same vein, their stark differences mean that most of them are unlikely to have informed ‘F Marry Kill.’
Read More: F Marry Kill Ending Explained: Who is the Killer?
