Film Review: Materialists
A spoiler free review.
Materialists is a 2025 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Celine Song. The film stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Zoë Winters, Marin Ireland, Louisa Jacobson, and Pedro Pascal. Set against the backdrop of New York City's luxury-driven dating culture, it follows a love triangle between a matchmaker, her aspiring actor ex-boyfriend, and a charming billionaire.
I saw the teaser for this movie a few months ago on the a24 YouTube channel. At that time, I was just mesmerized by this film. I don’t know what it was but that glimpse really made me excited to watch the film on the big screen. That day finally arrived today. I went to watch it all by myself and now I’m here to share my thoughts on the film. Spoiler alert, I absolutely loved it. It’s another masterpiece from a genius director. There’s a dearth of movies like this in times of today.
Okay so, let’s start with the story, because that’s the backbone of this film. The film begins with Lucy, who’s a matchmaker in New York. She’s really good at her job which is evident from the fact that she has been able to fix nine weddings in her career. While attending one of the weddings, she meets Harry and eventually John, her ex. And that’s how the story begins.
Now after reading this you might think that this is a love triangle situation but I would like to disagree. Yes, one can say it is, in some sorta way but that’s not the point of the story. The point of the story is the title of the movie. Yes, materialists. The film is all about materialism and how it works and sometimes doesn’t work in some situations.
Lucy (Dakota), is a rationalist matchmaker. Everything is math for her. It’s more about cracking a business deal for her and less about matching people in terms of how they can love each other. She sees love and dating differently and we can say that she is somewhat right but that also shows how hopeless she is. Her job is to find the perfect match for someone but even she’s not sure about the match she finds for someone. According to her, if someone ticks off all the boxes for the conditions stated by the other person, it’s a match and that’s it.
Harry (Pedro), the rich guy has quite a similar thought process as Lucy’s. They both are materialists to some extent. Harry is the ideal candidate for someone to match with according to Lucy. He has ideal looks, wealth, personality, height and everything else. Even after all this, the movie reaches a point where we see Harry questioning the idea of materialism.
John (Chris), Lucy’s poor ex-boyfriend who is a struggling theater actor and works in a catering company to pay for rent and other daily expenses. He’s someone who’s always hard on himself for being poor. He hates being poor but is helpless. Lucy left him cause he was poor back then. John is a materialist in his own way I think. For him, money is everything and why wouldn’t it be? He is struggling to afford anything he wants to buy on a daily basis. His attitude towards life is all about how he’s poor and that’s why no one, not even Lucy loves him.
Now, we all know it’s a Celine Song movie. So it has to be really good with human emotions and feelings. Yes! It delivers in that department. It’s packed with emotions, with solid acting and supernal script. The writing is so so good. It really justifies the title for me by feeling quite materialistic especially during Lucy’s scenes.
Some might feel that the movie is quite slow and it could have been edited for a tighter screenplay but again, I’ll disagree. I think this is the kind of movie which needs that slow paced screenplay because that’s how our brains work. We can’t do anything or start feeling anything all of a sudden without a build up. That’s why, we are able to connect with the story and the characters so much. You feel for Lucy, who’s not the ‘never doing anything wrong’ protagonist. You see Harry who’s perfect in others’ eyes but is he in his own? You see Chris, being fed up of not being able to make ends meet.
No one’s perfect in the film but somehow, they all come together and make the perfect story. I can’t say much about the story and what all happens cause that will be a spoiler. This movie is an experience and while sitting there, you are also living the lives of these characters in a way. The pacing, character arcs and plot is so realistic and well done, that you might not find a single second to be bitter about it. Yes, it’s that good.
The message the film gives in the end is quite realistic and honest. It doesn’t try to become too preachy or anything. But somehow we understand what materialism does to a relationship or any bond for that matter. I know I’m being really vague here but I don’t want to spoil anything.
Visually, it’s a masterpiece. From its beautiful, simplistic poster to the excellent cinematography, breathtaking locations, and the color grading, everything is just done with absolute perfection and precision. The background score is really good and well suited to the film as well.
Overall, it’s a very well made film. Perfect for my taste. I will definitely say that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Celine song’s talent is making you feel things just through her stories. The brilliant acting done by Dakota, Chris, and Pedro gives complete justice to the characters in the film. Those who like watching romcoms will surely love this cause it doesn’t try to be comedic every two seconds but it’s definitely a bit humorous and most of it comes from the brilliant script written by Celine Song herself.
The movie tackles the subject matter with pure honesty and delicacy. That’s the reason why this movie is a masterpiece in every sense and y’all should go and watch this one in theaters ASAP. Thanks for reading!