Materialists
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“You can do better than me”
Overview
From Celine Song, Oscar-nominated writer/director of Golden Age fave Past Lives, comes a fresh yet feverishly romantic take on the romcom for these precarious times. Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a modern New York City career girl whose profession is a bit of a throwback: she's a high-end matchmaker, successfully pairing up NYC's elite despite their unrealistic standards. Lucy's resignedly single lifestyle is thrown into disarray when she simultaneously meets "total package" smart, funny, handsome, rich Harry (Pedro Pascal) and is brought back together with her ex, the charmingly imperfect and financially struggling John (Chris Evans)— tough choice! Song skilfully steers Materialists past the rocks of predictable sentimentality to arrive somewhere both grounded and satisfying.
“Song has a particular knack for telling stories that break down the walls around our hearts and leave us aching in the best way possible.”
“A refreshingly complex look at modern love, self-worth and the challenges of finding a partner in an unaffordable city”
“A razor-sharp look at the competitive marketplace of dating: both rigorously honest and idealistically romantic”
Why See This Film
Song based the story in part on her own experiences working for a professional matchmaking firm while awaiting the debut of Past Lives, bringing a sense of reality alongside her characteristically assured handling of leading actors. Johnson, Pascal and Evans have crackling chemistry and are unafraid to take their characters into messy, unflattering and deeply human territory as they unpack their fears and desires. With Materialists Song hasn't reinvented the romcom, but she has channeled the spirit of Jane Austen in a blend of heady seduction with pragmatic insight to the emotional and financial compromises that are the cost of romance.
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