Movie Review: ‘Materialists’ is a frank romcom with some new twists

Celine Song’s Materialists is a film that doesn’t entirely reinvent the romcom genre but still adds some fresh perspectives that we don’t usually see in fictional love stories. While I wasn’t sold on Song’s acclaimed 2023 debut Past Lives, Materialists is a natural step forward for both Song’s career and craft.

In this movie, Lucy Mason (Dakota Johnson) is the most popular matchmaker in modern day NYC. She has her skill down to a science and builds relationships like a genuine business. Because she’s so good at her job and is always talking to people looking for love, she’s constantly reminded of the flaws in both humanity and dating, and isn’t interested in a significant other herself.

While attending the wedding of one of her clients, Lucy meets a hot-shot private equity financier, Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal), who is instantly intrigued by her reputation and persona, and simultaneously bumps into her old flame, John (Chris Evans), who is still trying to make it as a theater actor in between catering gigs.

Zoë Winters co-stars as Lucy’s unlucky, most consistent client; Marin Ireland plays her superior at the matchmaking company; and podcaster Dasha Nekrasova appears as Lucy’s best friend. One thing which makes Materialists stand out as a romantic dramedy is how Lucy and most of the women in the film are transparent about how they won’t settle for men who don’t have a steady income.

They feel the financial pressure and worry that a limited budget would impact their happiness and the success of the relationship, hence the title Materialists. This is a theme usually ignored in mainstream studio romcoms, so the female protagonist doesn’t come across as shallow.

But Song didn’t just make a new indie romcom. Instead she explores the contemporary dating scene. The three leads speak to each other with heavy expository dialogue during date scenes that could have easily felt tacked on elsewhere, yet mostly land tonally.

The plot is fairly basic and the outcome is easy to predict, feeling like an old JLO romcom like Adam Shankman’s The Wedding Planner (2001) with the “A24 aesthetic.” I’m actually surprised more people aren’t seeing the parallels to Jane Austen’s Emma (1815) or Amy Heckerling’s Clueless (1995), because much of Materialists feels like Clueless with grown adults in 2025.

But the film takes a very serious turn in the middle of the second act regarding Winters’ character to remind you this particular cinematic romance isn’t a real-life fairtale. There’s also a rather insane twist with Pascal’s character that may or may not work for some viewers.

Pascal and Evans are solid as Lucy’s completely different love interests with equal potential, and this might be the best performance of Johnson’s career. She has a very niche range that only works in two lanes: broad comedy and indie/artsy pictures.

You’ll love the retro mood of the soundtrack featuring artists like the Ronettes, Françoise Hardy, Harry Nilsson and the Velvet Underground. And though Materialists isn’t without flaws, I would say it has enough new spins worthy of checking out.