In a world the place swiping feels extra like scrolling by catalogues than constructing connections, Materialists, may simply be the love story all of us want.
Chris Evans and Dakota Johnson in a nonetheless from Materialists
Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a high-end matchmaker in New York City, pairing prosperous purchasers with companions who tick each curated field—from top and hair density to earnings brackets and fitness center routines. She believes love is a transaction like some other, a philosophy bolstered by a previous breakup with John (Chris Evans), a struggling actor whose anniversary dinner plan concerned a meals cart. At a ritzy wedding ceremony, Lucy meets Henry (Pedro Pascal), the groom’s impossibly rich brother, and likewise crosses paths with John once more, now working the get together as a waiter. Caught between outdated affection and newfound luxurious, Lucy faces a contemporary dilemma: is it doable to have each love and a 12-million-dollar condo?
The good
Celine Song’s writing brims with nuance, wit, and surgical perception. Like in Past Lives, conversations in Materialists crackle with unstated longing, contradictions, and societal stress. The movie zeroes in on how the seek for love has been formed—and warped—by capitalism, particularly in a metropolis like New York, the place web value is commonly simply as essential as emotional compatibility.
Dakota Johnson sheds her regular ethereal attraction for one thing sharper, extra commanding. Her Lucy is each savvy and weak, a lady conscious of her personal contradictions and prepared to stay with them. Chris Evans provides one in all his most grounded performances in years, taking part in a person whose earnestness isn’t sufficient in a world the place ardour doesn’t pay hire. Pedro Pascal’s Henry is easy and magnetic, however Song is cautious to not current him as a one-dimensional “Mr. Big” caricature—his enchantment is simply as a lot about emotional attentiveness as it’s about wealth.
The movie is peppered with satirical thrives. Lucy’s purchasers, with their absurd romantic expectations, present sly commentary on the commodification of courting. There’s even a second of darkish actuality when one in all her matches turns violent—jarring, however deliberately so, grounding the film in a world that is not fully aspirational.
The dangerous
For all its ambition, Materialists often falters beneath the burden of its personal realism. By intentionally undercutting the fizzy momentum of conventional romcoms, it generally feels prefer it’s holding again emotional payoff. You sense the place Lucy’s coronary heart really lies, however the journey to that realization lacks the climactic exhilaration such a setup appears to vow.
There’s additionally a story nook the movie paints itself into: it needs to critique the significance of cash in relationships whereas acknowledging its simple affect. That results in a slight cheat within the ultimate act, the place monetary stakes are softened to make room for love. The compromise could also be intentional, but it surely additionally deflates a number of the stress that’s been constructing all alongside.
The verdict
Materialists isn’t making an attempt to present audiences a grand cinematic kiss within the rain. Smart, trendy, and at occasions uncomfortably sincere, it’s a movie that dares to ask whether or not we fall in love with folks—or with the lives they provide. It needs to depart you fascinated with whether or not love can thrive with out a wholesome financial institution steadiness—or if, in at present’s hyper-capitalist world, romance has turn into simply one other luxurious merchandise.
If this movie doesn’t sweep you off your toes, it stays with you want a tricky however mandatory dialog.
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