Why Men Rent Girlfriends (Darker Than You Think)

Описание: In an era of modern dating apps, rising male loneliness, and the so-called masculinity crisis, this investigative documentary explores the hidden world of rent-a-girlfriend services and the online belief systems shaping a generation of young men. A year in the making, this documentary follows an anonymous British man in his 20s speaking publicly for the first time about why he rents relationships — a pursuit that has cost him more than £50,000.

Ben Zand meets “T” expecting to uncover isolation and heartbreak, but instead finds something more unsettling: a worldview influenced by the blackpill ideology, born in incel forums and online manosphere communities, where resentment towards women has hardened into a belief that modern dating is fundamentally “broken.”

Convinced that women’s freedom of choice in the age of dating apps has left him locked out of what he calls the “sexual marketplace,” T turns to paid companionship in search of what he feels he is owed — a partner who won’t say no. His story exposes the psychology behind transactional intimacy, entitlement, and the commodification of connection in the digital age.

To understand the global economy behind the so-called “girlfriend experience,” which even T believes can be exploitative, Ben travels halfway around the world to meet a woman who sells intimacy on her own terms. She argues the income helped her escape an abusive past — even as she believes many of her clients are struggling with deep emotional and psychological wounds.

Returning to London, Ben brings T into a conversation he has never had before: a transparent and uncomfortable dialogue with real women, confronting the impact of online radicalisation, algorithm-driven isolation, and the question at the heart of today’s dating culture — can resentment be challenged before it hardens into ideology?

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0:00 Intro
1:16 Investigating Rented Relationships
2:35 Meeting T in the Pub
5:28 The Rent-A-Girlfriend Forums
7:19 Incels and the Blackpill
8:40 Challenging T's Extreme Views
12:55 Brazil: Meeting a Girlfriend for Hire
18:47 Making a Plan
20:00 Ready for Conversation
21:37 Talking to Women for the First Time
25:45 Harassment on Camera
26:29 Confronting Misogyny
28:41 T has a Question
31:17 A Big Change
33:23 Next Time

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Our recent explainer on the manosphere:    • The Truth About the Manosphere (After 5 Ye...  

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Series Director and Presenter
BEN ZAND

Researcher & Camera
BEN MULLEY

Editor
GABRIEL BAXTER

Socials & Camera
FREDDIE NEWMAN

Production Manager
GRACE EVANS

Brazil - Director of Photography
BEN LISTER

Brazil - Location Producer and Camera
AMIN GUIDARA

Translations
MAYLANA COLCHETE
JORDAN EVAGORA-CAMPBELL

Post Production Supervisor
PAUL BLAKE

Sound Mix
STICKS & GLASS

Edit Assistant
JOSH LEVETT

Team Assistant
ELEANOR PHEE

Patreon Partner
LAKSHMI NARASIMHAM G

Head of Production
ADAM MITCHENALL

Executive Producers
BEN ZAND & JOSH REYNOLDS

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HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and getting to truth.

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New episodes of HUMAN drop every month.

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