‘Materialists’ Review: Celine Song’s Sophomore Feature Deconstructs Love Beyond Class in Thoughtful Romantic Dramedy
Modern dating just about everywhere is shallow, barren, and hopeless. Personally, I can't imagine it being any bleaker than here in NYC, where romance has become completely transactional, as capitalistic as the city itself. Love comes at a price, and everyone has a price tag. Navigating today’s dating landscape will turn a Tigger into an Eeyore. Lord knows, I was. I was so hopeless in New York City that I recently flew to Austin, Texas, to see a woman I’d been chatting with romantically (and heatedly) for two months. Only when I arrived did I learn she was in a relationship. She canceled our plans halfway through my stay. By the time I returned, bruised and broken, I had become a deeply cynical romantic.
But then Materialists, Celine Song's sophomore follow-up to her amazing Oscar-nominated Past Lives, read me for filth at the exact moment I felt like I needed it most. This harrowing and deeply romantic character study, which follows a superficial matchmaker and her struggles between following her values and following her heart, encapsulates my perception of the trivialization of romance in the digital age, where many wear their materialism on their sleeve. Song continues her streak as one of the most sophisticated voices in romance, deconstructing the definition of love beyond its superficial attributes and making the ultimate romance film of 2025.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of A24
MPA Rating: R (for language and brief sexual material.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 57 Minutes
Production Companies: 2AM, Killer Films
Distributor: A24
Director: Celine Song
Writer: Celine Song
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoë Winters, Marin Ireland, John Magaro
Release Date: June 13, 2025
In NYC, ambitious and fiercely independent Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a successful matchmaker who works for Adore, a matchmaking company. A living breathing dating algorithm, Lucy goes around setting up singles who are eager to mingle to help them meet the love of their lives but is single herself. At her latest client wedding, Lucy catches the eye of Harry (Pedro Pascal), a rich private equity man, and runs into her ex-boyfriend, John (Chris Evans), working as a caterwaiter. She is caught in a love triangle with the ideal rich man and her broke ex with a heart of gold.
Celine Song Takes Sharp, Sarcastic Aim at the Dark Side of Modern Dating
Materialists is not a romantic comedy as it was advertised. Instead, Celine Song infuses her script with sharp wit, ruthlessly satirizing the modern dating scene in New York City. One of the film’s most captivating elements is the interplay of different cultures throughout history, contrasting genuine affection with the classist prerequisites for finding love today. In the silent and beautifully directed cold open, a caveman proposes to his wife with a makeshift ring fashioned from a flower, and she enthusiastically accepts. All of this is contrasted with a smash cut to urban society, in which Song actively takes jabs at archetypes with Lucy’s inept, wealthy, lonely and unself-aware clients. They often treat her as a genie, believing that she can construct a perfect partner from the ground up. Dakota Johnson, queen of the dry-witted comeback, leans into the humor by refraining from making judgments.
Song also mines great visual humor from Lucy's matchmaking world, framing it like a stockbroker environment. Though Lucy describes being a matchmaker as working at a morgue or an insurance company she and her co-workers and her boss (Marin Ireland) celebrate each new engagement like Wall Street finance bros after they close a big deal. It's all fairly funny.
Nonetheless, these factors have an impact on Lucy and her perception of love, for as she's thrust into her love triangle, pieces of her insecurities show through her corporate, calculated demeanor.
Dakota Johnson warmly grounds Materialists' love triangle
Materialists sees Song once again conducting a unique examination of a woman pursuing her innermost desires. Unlike Past Lives' Nora Moon, Lucy is embroiled in a perpetual conflict between her left brain, equipped with a recurring mathematical motif she spouts to her beaus, and her right brain, which holds all her insecurities and is slowly unveiled as she's caught in romantic situations. Dakota Johnson depicts these conflicts so potently through Lucy, employing a professional poise and calm, PR-crisis tone in all aspects of her life, seeing everyone as a client. Everyone but her ex, John. While she is flirtatiously conversing with Pedro Pascal's dapper Harry at a wedding, Chris Evan's devoted John enters, and Johnson melts your heart with how she instantly greets him. Her poised body language becomes relaxed, and her voice softens. That single scene is a testament to Johnson's exceptional acting skills, as she is able to maintain a strong and assertive poker face while simultaneously displaying her vulnerability with tenderness during moments of romantic passion. The subtle nature of that acting style reminds me of Oscar winner Mikey Madison (God, that feels good to say) in Anora, where Ani uses her corporate stripper voice in her daily life until her walls collapse.
Because this is a Celine Song joint, the players within Lucy's triangle are also pleasantly well realized. Effortlessly suave and unexpectedly soft, Pascal crafts a charming romantic interest as Harry, the beau that attracts Lucy's left-brained materialistic ideals, appealing to her desire for comfort with clear interest in her and charm. This role is a walk in the park for Pascal.
Chris Evans delivers a career-best performance
On the other hand, Chris Evans is operating at a new level as John, utilizing his romantic abilities to pour never-before-seen vulnerability into his low-income, hipster, failed millennial actor with a busted down car that surely many of us know. At times it seems like Song is testing the viewer's shallowness with all the things working against John. Evan's portrayal is humanistic, as John's active awareness of his inability to fulfill Lucy's luxurious needs is painfully worn on his face. Nevertheless, his unwavering, devoted affection is evident in his actions, and it, like hers, *Love Händel voice* sneaks its way right into your heart. It's by far his career-best performance since Gifted.
Despite Materialists' flaws, Celine Song's distinctive voice remains potent
Materialists' narrative is rather rough around the edges compared to Past Lives. In the midst of her own relationship, Lucy tries to find the perfect match for Sophie (Zoë Winters), one of her most challenging clients. The Sophie-related subplot takes a dark turn that challenges Lucy's humanity outside of her workplace, adding depth to her character. Despite Song's well-intentioned approach to the realistic topic of assault in dating, the timing of its introduction is disconcerting in terms of pacing. Having said that, Zoë Winters gives an incredible and somber portrayal of a woman simply looking for love. Much of my tears stemmed from her scenes.
Song and the same team that transformed Past Lives into a remarkable masterpiece — editor Keith Frase and cinematographer Shaber Kirchner — carefully mend her sophomore feature, a lyrical and romantic portrait, elevating areas where Song's ambitions are not fully realized. By incorporating scenes from Lucy and John's failed relationship into their newly formed bond in the present, Fraase makes nuanced editing choices that emphasize the significance of their relationship. Shabier Kirchner remains my favorite cinematographer, as he skillfully captures the cinematic weight and beauty of New York City in a naturalistic way. As a born and bred Brooklynite who sometimes takes the city for granted, he reminded me just how beautiful it is. He's been that guy since Skate Kitchen and here, he capitalizes (pun intended) on the city's romantic edge, something we haven't gotten in this magnitude since the Ephron days.
Song continues to be a unique voice that creates stories about the pursuit of one's heart and raw, layered characters. Her ability to pierce the heart with pure romantic sincerity is stealth-like. Materialists reinvented me from the ground up at my lowest point and filled me with a newfound sense of renowned hope, reminding me that I am a romantic at my core and that swallowing my purest emotions in the most romantic city in the world, as Lucy does, is a disservice to myself. Although it is not Past Lives, which was lightning in a bottle, this serves as a compelling continuation of her efforts to restore romantic honesty in ways most cynical souls cannot.
Final Statement
Materialists is a moving portrait of love and our capability to find it beyond classist parameters, in even the bleakest times. And truly, it's what we all need right now.
