“I’m a beggar for you. When I see your face, I see wrinkles and children that look like you. Can’t help it.”
Finding a soulmate is a timeless challenge. It’s been told time and time again in media and literature, and the romance tropes, dramas, and love triangles will only continue on further. Like so many other genres and topics, the idea of finding the one is just something that people can relate to on all levels. Whether someone is watching the quintessential rom-com, When Harry Met Sally, or reading Pride and Prejudice, the most famous love story, it’s undeniable that love stories are wanted, needed, and eternal.
Produced by A24, Materialists is a movie that embodies love and dating in the tech-ridden, modern world we currently live in. Directed by Celline Song, who directed the Oscar-nominated Past Lives, Materialists digs a deep hole in the fabric of dating society, and reveals something we often forget in the real world—love stories don’t work out. The idea of watching a rom-com invigorates what we’ve come to expect—humor, ‘will-they, won’t-they’, enemies-to-lovers, a montage, and ultimately, a feel-good happy ending. It’s not that Materialists isn’t that, because in some ways it is, but at the same time, it’s not about happy endings. The easiest way to describe this movie is that at its core, it’s real, refreshing, and realistic.
From here on, there will be spoilers for the movie, Materialists.
THE THREE R’S COME TOGETHER
Dakota Johnson stars as Lucy, a renowned and professional matchmaker living in New York City. She’s serious about her job at Adore, the well-known company, and even better, Lucy’s good at it. We see her celebrating her 9th couple getting married, surrounded by balloons, champagne, and coworkers who love her; the it-girl status. Lucy knows what people are looking for in a partner, why they want to be with someone, and understands a part of humanity and people that we don’t see at face value. And face value, ironically, is what it’s all about in the realm of matchmaking.
Pedro Pascal plays Harry, a financial investor who comes from money, looks like money, and makes lots of money. Harry is a ‘unicorn’ in the matchmaking world, perfect in every way. A gentleman who always pays, knows how to dress, isn’t too tall or too short, and most importantly, is emotionally invested in dating. Then walks in John, the ex and past-lover who knows Lucy better than anyone, played by Chris Evans. John’s life is a mess, just like the rest of us. He’s a ‘working-actor’, who can’t find work, lives with roommates, and has maybe a thousand dollars to his name at all times. John and Lucy dated for five years before breaking up over the fact that they both hated being poor, and even worse, couldn’t stand being poor with each other. When Lucy meets Harry at the wedding of her client, she also runs into John, who is working a side hustle with the catering company. The love triangle has been set.
To Lucy, dating is a numbers game. As she and Harry begin to see more and more of each other, she has to set the record straight—her and Harry the ‘unicorn’ don’t add up. Harry could be dating someone younger, someone with more money, a girl in her twenties who will age better; Lucy’s list goes on. What Harry sees however, is a business deal, and he wants Lucy to be his partner. Someone who he can have a conversation with, someone he respects and gives that respect back, and someone who he would be proud to call his wife. Lucy, understanding the game they’re playing, agrees. Harry’s twelve million dollar bachelor pad doesn’t hurt his chances, either.
As Harry and Lucy’s relationship progresses, Lucy finds herself back into John’s life. We see a glimpse into their past, and discover the reasons their relationship didn’t work. As Lucy’s work-life collapses behind her eyes, involving her friend, Sophie, she struggles onward with the notion of not dating for love—of thinking of dating as a business proposition. She confides in John, not knowing who to go to, and realizes that she needs to break things off with Harry, who wants to propose soon. Lucy ends things with Harry, not because of John or their past, but because now, she realizes that while all of the things in their relationship check each other’s boxes, the one thing they’re both missing is love. They could be perfect together, but Lucy isn’t in love with Harry, and he is not in love with her. They part on good terms, with Lucy telling her that there are many people in her matchmaking agency that could help him find someone.
Now free from the metaphorical chains that Lucy locked herself in, she turns to John, showing up at his dirty apartment that she knows and remembers well. John, who wants Lucy to have more than his roommates and toothpaste covered counters, enters the idea of heading away for the weekend. The two travel upstate, gate crashing a wedding, stealing a piece of cake and a piece of each other. As they dance and kiss, John realizes that their love is rekindling, but what does that mean? As the pair begin to discuss the nuance in their relationship, Lucy is called away in an emergency. Without hesitation, John and Lucy race back down to NYC to help Sophie who needs someone she can trust. Lucy arrives, entering her friend’s apartment as John waits outside.
Lucy and Sophie talk about love, dating, and the realities we must face when meeting new people. As they talk, Lucy understands that what she feels for John is what she was missing with Harry. Love. No matter how poor he is, or how he still holds on to a tightrope dream, or that his phone is always dead, Lucy loves John. And John, well, he loves Lucy, and always has. They finish their conversation outside of Sophie’s apartment, slotting together the final pieces of what was once a broken ending. We see the start of a future they begin to share, with no amount of money or materials getting in the way this time.
A BARED ROMANCE
**Trigger warning for mentions of sexual assault**
Before becoming a filmmaker, Celine Song actually worked as a matchmaker for a period of time, inspiring her for the story and idea of Materialists. Her half year spent learning the ins of matchmaking gave her the insights into the world of modern dating that we live in, queuing the character of Lucy. Lucy described matchmaking as ‘a numbers game’ and a way for people to ‘check their boxes’ of what they want in a lover. As Celine discovered, and how Lucy already knows from experiences, matchmaking is a loveless game, too. Matchmakers aren’t looking for sparks to fly, they’re looking at height, weight, hair color, profession, and salary. Unlike a tropey rom-com, where ‘the one’ just walks perfectly into town and falls in love with the protagonist, real life isn’t like that. Real life is messy, unpredictable, vulnerable, and unfortunately, it’s also monstrous.
After a lot of trial and error, Lucy sets Sophie up with someone she thinks will check all the boxes. After being unable to get in touch with Sophie to see how the date went, Lucy finds from her boss that Sophie is preparing to sue Adore. Sophie is suing because the man she went out with sexually assaulted her, forcing himself into her home and upon her. When Lucy finds this out, she is horrified. Her boss reassures her that the incident is not her fault, and that sadly, this kind of thing happens often. Experiencing a new kind of alarm, Lucy questions how often, and it’s frequent enough that her boss can name a specific number. Given some time off to take a break from work, Lucy leaves Adore as the other girls celebrate a client’s engagement.
Materialists doesn’t shy away from the real world problems and injustices women face. Dating is not the picturesque movie we see in the rom-coms we’ve come to know and love—it can be nerve-wrecking, and downright scary to put yourself in a space with someone you’ve never met before. Most women know another woman that has been sexually assaulted before, and that’s an incredibly miserable thing. Sexual assault has become so normalized in this world that it’s something we actually have come to expect—it’s not a new story to hear on the news, or read about on social media. What is unexpected, however, is to see it represented in a romance movie.
Watching Materialists in the theatre, this author really did not expect this to be a plot of the film, and that was definitely intentional. What Celine did was showcase not only the ups and downs of dating in this world, but all the ways it can be hurtful mentally and physically. Lucy learned that her job could no longer be numbers on a page, or checking boxes. What her job did affected real people, with real feelings and real dreams—after matchmaking for so long, she forgot about that, becoming desensitized (like us). As a matchmaker, Lucy has seen many ugly parts of humanity. People talked to her and revealed more to her than they ever would a therapist. But this experience, what Sophie had to face because of what Lucy thought was a good match, unveiled the buried, molded, and tethered kind of ugly inside of people.
PLAYING THE LONG GAME
The progression of the relationship that re-blossoms between Lucy and John is a natural, slow burn. Seeing each other in person brought back their memories—they noticed the changes, and the things that didn’t change. This author thought it was somewhat clear cut at the beginning of the film that Lucy would end up with John, but the big question was how so.
I think it’s important to note that throughout this entire film, Lucy does not once cheat or behave inappropriately with John while still with Harry. While we do see the small moments of how Lucy and John become close to one another, Lucy never indicates that she wants to outrightly be with him. It’s a moment of the film I think audiences take for granted. There are a lot of romance films surrounding love triangles where a female lead character could have questionable actions, or make choices that give me second-hand embarrassment. I find myself watching a movie like that and thinking, “I would never do that”. Yes, these films are not about me, and the choices I would or wouldn’t make, but they are supposed to be relatable. Sometimes something cutesy to one person can come out as cringe to another. I find that a lot of stereo-typical rom-coms can only fit into one of those categories.
For all of the choices that Lucy made, every one of them made sense to me. Based on her character, the setup, her profession and backstory, the decisions she makes were all authentic. Lucy never once changes herself or personality for either men, or makes herself into something she’s not. Lucy even chooses to admit to John, on multiple occasions, that she is “not a good person”. The integrity of her character was something I found really enjoyable, and the way her and John connect was a realistic progression that did not give the vibes of a typical romance story that really feels like a story, as opposed to something true and real.
The characters then, of Lucy, John, and Harry, felt like very real people making the choices to be together, or not. What was happening on the screen, felt like something that nearly could happen in real life. Despite the fact that I was watching a movie about people who aren’t real, the way Celine tells this story makes it feel so. Lucy and John find their way back to each other as they realize that the first time they were in love, they weren’t ready for it. Now, they are.
TO ROM-COM, OR NOT TO ROM-COM
Materialists, being the real (as I described it) movie that it is, however, really does make me question whether it qualifies as a rom-rom. Everyone has a different opinion on rom-coms and what makes or breaks them, but there are a few defining factors that are typically seen. Humor and heart, a love story, some kind of grand gesture, and a happy ending. I’m not claiming that Materialists is totally missing in any of these things, or that the film failed at showing them, but I think some of the categories are lacking.
The humor aspect is really the main thing. What qualifies a movie as humorous to me, is really just if it makes me laugh-out-loud more than three times—and I think that’s a bare minimum. Materialists wasn’t able to do that. There were definitely some funny moments, dialogue that made me huff or have a small chuckle, I won’t deny that. Looking back though, I just can’t think of a few moments, bits, or jokes from the film that filled the theatre with laughter. Materialists was marketed as a rom-com, and now I wonder if that was a purposeful inaccuracy.
After watching the trailer, and then watching the movie, it’s pretty clear that the trailer was made to really claim this as a rom-com. There isn’t any indication that we’re going to be facing and seeing the themes we do see, and the seriousness of the sub-plot. What you get from the trailer is that John is the old flame, Harry is the wealthy new guy, and Lucy is the girl in-between who will have to make a choice—the regular stuff we expect in a rom-com. What I watched in the movie theatre was different.
I can’t help but wonder if Celine knew that going into this, marketing the movie as a rom-rom would bring back audiences in the theatre to watch a romance. Maybe she wanted the realness of the film to be a hidden thing that you weren’t aware of until you were watching it. That could have all been a purposeful marketing scheme to introduce people to a new idea of the rom-com, without even telling them. To show audiences a real look into how dating feels, works, and happens by branding it as something else. On the other hand, maybe the movie is supposed to be a rom-com, and was made to be one, and it just really didn’t hit it for me. The movie’s about romance and love, don’t get me wrong, but the other half of rom-com, is comedy (duh). If I’m not laughing by the halfway point of the movie, then I think it missed the mark. I really don’t know if the action was purposeful, or not. I want to give Materialists the benefit of the doubt.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The soundtrack and use of music in Materialists was so good. I really enjoyed the aesthetic they aimed for, and delivered on. Watching the film I realized that the editors must have focused on the use of silence a lot. Not every moment of the film has music playing behind it, and the film really doesn’t need it. I think it was a very purposeful choice in the way to let the characters be, and fill the silence as themselves rather than attempting to direct or persuade the audience’s feelings with music and sounds. One of my favorite songs used was, “My Baby (Got Nothing At All)” by Japanese Breakfast. The song plays during the final credits, and was written and produced for Materialists. I suggest taking a listen to understand the vibes that the movie reached.
Despite all of the deep things that occur in Materialists, you leave from it feeling hopeful and gratified. I enjoyed seeing the lighter and darker reflections of dating in the modern world—it was a needed contrast that has been missing from the typical romance worlds we see. Materialists remind us of all the hardships and challenges we risk with dating, but it also shows us why it’s all worth it.
Being with someone who makes you a better person, who challenges you to be a proud person, well, that’s something John and Lucy had to re-learn. Sometimes, love lost can be love found, too.
Materialists is playing now in cinemas.
