Movie Review: MATERIALISTS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: June 6th, 2025 / 12:33 PM

THE MATERIALISTS movie poster | ©2025 A24

Rating: R
Stars: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Winters, Marin Ireland
Writer: Celine Song
Director: Celine Song
Distributor: A24
Release Date: June 13, 2025

A lot of romantic comedies give the whole genre a bad name (at least in the opinion of some people) by throwing together two people who are so awful to each other at the start that we wouldn’t want to get into an elevator, much less a relationship, with either one.

Not so MATERIALISTS, which presents us with three delightful leads, who treat one another in ways that make us root for something to work out. They also have real issues both about relationships and the workings of the world. Bonus: there’s even a subplot of substance.

Director/writer Celine Song introduces us to Lucy (Dakota Johnson), as she goes through her elaborate morning makeup ritual, which makes her look like she’s wearing minimal cosmetics. Lucy is a Manhattan matchmaker, who is celebrated at her office for being responsible for nine engagements.

We see Lucy at work with her clients and marvel at her ability to stay positive through a variety of neuroses, despair, over-confidence, and unrealistic expectations. It’s a job that requires the skills of a therapist, a mathematician and a performer who can keep a straight face. Song makes it clear that this isn’t a career most of us would want.

As the matchmaker who brought the couple together, Lucy must deal with a bride crisis right before a wedding. Having heroically solved this, she meets the groom’s brother Harry (Pedro Pascal) at the single’s table.

In addition to the good looks Pascal brings with him, Harry is rich both by family and dint of hard work, courtly, and very interested in Lucy. Lucy sees him as a great potential client; Harry sees Lucy as a great potential girlfriend.

Almost immediately, the third corner of this triangle comes into focus. This is John (Chris Evans), Lucy’s still-friendly ex, who is employed at the wedding as a cater-waiter. John brings Evans’s physicality with him, but he’s never had money and, if anything, his financial situation has gotten worse.

What follows is a bracingly astute look at a whole bunch of matters that cover dating, economics, how people see each other, how people see themselves, what people think they want, what people actually want, and a lot more.

Song makes most of this as picturesque as possible, though she gives us some gleefully icky glimpses into unfortunate shared spaces.

Much of what makes MATERIALISTS impressive is that the main characters are never arbitrary or cruel. We can relate to their concerns and objections. Song’s keen observations and the deft performances make it all continually funny. This, in turn, gives added impact when one aspect takes a dark turn, and something else is heartfelt when we’re not expecting it.

MATERIALISTS also has a strikingly kind outlook. People’s desires are shown to be reasonable, even when they start out seeming absurd. We emerge feeling not only entertained, but that we’ve been treated like intelligent observers, which isn’t necessarily a common cinematic sensation.

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