Love and Engineering

Filmmaker Tonislav Hristov's cinema vérité documentary shot in Finland features a group of young high-tech workers and researchers who are led by Atanas Boev, PhD. Stuttering heavily, Dr. Boev is a science-based sex guru whose “love hacks” psychological techniques have earned him a wife—who is not interviewed. In fact, very few of the women here offer commentary, as most of the females serve as quiet, eerily smiling, Stepford-style date material and experimental subjects for a cabal of young, brainy guys who are researching dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters linked to romance. These Big Bang Theory-types put their formulas into practice, which leads to a few good (if also predictable) sequences. One nerdy gamer bores his blind date by talking compulsively about Mass Effect, while another male, despite oodles of intellectual prowess, breaks into sobbing fits over a rejection. All in all, this adds up to the somewhat pat and foregone conclusion that love is complex. A strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)