Let me start by explaining some of the marketing and publicity for the new film, "Materialists" gives this film the appearance of a romantic comedy. But the lie detector determined that marketing is a lie. The lie detector being my brain while watching "Materialists" in the movie theater. While this new release is not a bubbly, funny, or breezy kind of romance, it does have thoughtfully pensive musings on how many of us feel about romance.
South Korean-born director and screenwriter Celine Song received a lot of critical acclaim for her feature-length debut, 'Past Lives" (2023). Her dialogue and storytelling attitude is patient, delicate, and quietly direct. All of this is still present in her second film, "Materialists," but something else is present that I don't like.
Dakota Johnson ("Madame Web," 2024) plays a successful matchmaker named Lucy in current day New York City who lives confidently with her philosophy that love is a measurable, quantifiable negotiation of numbers. Even her own goals for marriage are all about money and security. After meeting a wealthy, handsome finance manager (Pedro Pascal, "The Last of Us," 2023-2025), and cautiously agreeing to date him, Lucy also crosses paths with an ex-boyfriend (Chris Evans, "Pain Hustlers," 2023) who unintentionally makes her question her practical views on happy relationships.
"Materialists" is a sophisticated exploration of romance in our increasingly technology-focused world of algorithms and instant gratification. This topical exploration is most effectively shown when Lucy interviews her clients in little vignettes politely listening to their lists of endless requirements or asking them why a date went badly. Not only do people in real life look for the "right" age or weight, the "right" salary, real estate location, and square footage are also high on the list. Emotions are totally secondary.
The love triangle of Lucy's two opposite male interests is less about the balance of personalities or fulfillments and more about the idea of differing values. The temporal vs. the emotional or the cynical vs. the hopeful. (Maybe a triangle is wrong. It's more like a tug-of-war.) This kind of focus in a romance is not new. We've seen this in film adaptations of "Wuthering Heights" (the most famous being from 1939), "The Way We Were" (1973), or "I.Q." (1994). But the sensitive, cerebral dialogue, filled with aching subtext, makes Celine Song an interesting voice in contemporary cinema people should not ignore.
"Materialists" has some great ideas. But halfway through this, when events take a darker turn, the lead character becomes so poorly motivated and so different in her outlook (especially on herself) it almost feels like an entirely different person wrote this part of the film. You expect me to run with the idea that Lucy has a complete change of heart after her philosophy is shaken over just a couple days?
In an interview with The Movie Podcast, Celine Song said, "True love is more real than all the tangible things." Isn't that a great quote? That's essentially the primary message of this film. Entertaining ideas, but they lose their focus in the latter half which then reverts to tired romantic comedy tropes. (Let's go on a spontaneous road trip together. Let's crash a wedding upstate. Should I take the big promotion at work? It's time to visit city hall for our wedding.) Come on, Celine! I thought you were trying to elevate the romantic comedy genre to something more sophisticated!
"Materialists" ends up being just okay. It's a shame all its ideas couldn't come together more successfully.
