Materialists Review: Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans Shine in Romantic Dramedy

Materialists proves Celine Song is Hollywood’s next great auteur.

‘Materialists’ sells itself as a modern-day romantic comedy with big stars, but I’m overjoyed to say it’s so much more than that. In 2023’s ‘Past Lives’, writer and director Celine Song proved she is adept at portraying relationships and settings realistically without losing a sense of romance and allure. Meanwhile, Song’s follow-up, ‘Materialists’, doesn’t aim to be the emotional gut punch that ‘Past Lives’ is. It manages to showcase relationships and dating with glamour and mystique without losing the horrors, disappointments, and tough decisions that can accompany it in real life.

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is an expert matchmaker in New York City. She views every eligible bachelor and bachelorette in the Big Apple based on how they fit into certain categories based on job, salary, looks, and personality. To Lucy, marriage is less about love and more of a business arrangement, and it’s just a matter of finding the right partners.

Lucy herself doesn’t date, but while attending the wedding of former clients, she meets the incredibly rich and handsome Harry (Pedro Pascal), who has eyes for Lucy despite her numerous attempts to reject him and turn him into one of her clients. At the same wedding, Lucy reunites with former flame John (Chris Evans), a struggling actor working a side gig with a catering company. Of course, Lucy finds herself at the center of a love triangle that she has to carefully navigate.

Dakota Johnson has incredible onscreen chemistry with both Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans.

Nerdtropolis citizens will recognize all three of these actors from the superhero personas we associate them with. Still, Song utilizes the trio by capitalizing on their strengths in ways we’ve never seen before. Evans in particular has had a lot of ups and downs in his post ‘Avengers: Endgame’ career, but he’s so believable as the poor, struggling actor, and his earnestness towards Johnson’s Lucy is captivating.

While there are several genuinely funny moments in the dialogue, Song’s writing blew me away in how she’s able to interweave some truly terrifying scenarios into the plot in ways that were realistic and made sense. It’s the types of situations that are unfortunately all too real in the world of dating, and they’re presented in ways that are handled delicately but also manage not to suck the air out of the room for those watching the film.

It’s here that Song has really proven how she’s capable of making a movie that’s so much more than the general fodder of the genre while still making it extremely watchable.

VERDICT

‘Materialists’ elevates to the top of the romantic dramedy subgenre by being expertly written and acted, while still maintaining mass appeal. Celine Song has proven herself an auteur filmmaker whose movies should not be missed.

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