Materialists (2025)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Swiping Right

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Writer/director Celine Song had quite a task following up a debut as great as Past Lives was, and her sophomore feature Materialists is admittedly more conventional, but still impressively tender and thoughtful.

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) works for a matchmaking company in New York, putting together couples based on things like height, age, and income. One of her matches leads to a wedding. After giving the bride a pep talk, she meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), who, in the matchmaking business, is considered a "unicorn," or a perfect ten out of ten; he's wealthy, handsome, tall, fit, etc.

She wants to sign him up as a client, but he's interested in dating her. He talks her into a date and she finds herself swept away.

Meanwhile, her ex, John (Chris Evans), also runs into her at the wedding, working for a catering company. He's a struggling stage actor, living in a shabby apartment with two annoying roommates, and driving a run-down car he can't afford. After another of her work matches ends badly, Lucy begins to question the idea of whether one can find love by "checking all the boxes."

Materialists begins almost like a traditional Hollywood romcom, with a quirky prologue and a bouncy credits sequence in which the heroine gets ready for her day to the tune of a happy pop song. Yet it's not long before the cynicism and superficiality of modern dating kicks in, suggesting the antithesis of everything we hope love is actually about.

The movie features some rather profound discussions about dating, coupling, finding love, and choosing to marry, and many of these are presented in Song's quiet, poetic style. These are medium shots, consisting mainly of talking, with few cuts, and no music, but the meanings and rhythms of the words make for great cinema. (Look for a subtly stirring performance by Zoë Winters, whose character Sophie is assaulted while on a date.)

The three-way dynamic in Past Lives was infinitely more complex and emotionally gripping, and is undeniably simpler and more straightforward here, even predictable. But Materialists still manages to paint a compelling, insightful portrait of the longing for and pursuit of love, with all its roadblocks and downfalls, as well as the occasional magical connection.