Add good looks, a high income, social status, an admirable family, an impressive job title, and a stylish apartment in a wealthy neighborhood, and you’ve got a “unicorn”: the “perfect” match on paper. These days, choosing someone to love can feel cold and calculated. In her second film, Materialists (2025), Academy Award–nominated filmmaker and playwright Celine Song flips the script on the modern rom-com. She asks whether we’re following our hearts or just checking boxes. Song’s signature style lies in exploring human relationships and intimacy, often drawing on her personal experiences. With this second effort, she builds on the success of her 2023 debut, Past Lives. In Materialists, Song reflects on her previous job as a matchmaker to examine the modern dating landscape. She lays bare its glossy promises while exposing the risks of alienation that lurk beneath.

Produced by 2AM and Killer Films and distributed in the U.S. by A24, Materialists arrived with high expectations thanks to its star-studded cast and the acclaim surrounding Song’s directorial debut. However, audiences expecting a lighthearted rom-com were met with far more drama than anticipated. The film offers a sharp, unflinching look at the messy reality of courtship, love, money, and contemporary romance.

• Passion or Profit? Inside Materialists’ Love Triangle
• The Day Love Became a Commodity
• Love Against the Machine: Resisting Dehumanization
• Rom-Coms Reimagined
• Is Love the Last Religion?

Passion or Profit? Inside Materialists‘ Love Triangle

Set in the glamorous yet competitive dating scene of New York City, the story follows Lucy (played by the charming Dakota Johnson), a successful matchmaker at Adore. Lucy is known for her pragmatic approach to love and her voluntary celibacy. Materialists mirrors Celine Song’s real-life experience as an aspiring playwright and matchmaker in Manhattan. The now award-winning filmmaker has admitted that her time as a matchmaker taught her a great deal about human behavior and personal connections. This six-month experience provided the foundation for Materialists, offering insight into the dynamics of love and social expectations.

The film opens with a scene reminiscent of Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie (2023), immediately establishing the idea that love has always been a contract—a mere negotiation shaped by strategy rather than feeling. Indeed, Materialists aims to reveal how modern dating often mirrors the logic of a market by treating emotions as negotiable commodities rather than authentic expressions of intimacy.

Lucy is the perfect guide for singles seeking a partner who ticks every box. She approaches the search as if she were working in the stock market or a morgue. The story intensifies when Lucy reaches a crossroads: She must choose between material stability at the expense of a deep emotional connection or pursuing intimacy while risking security.

At the heart of Materialists is a captivating love triangle between two men who are very different from each other. Harry (Pedro Pascal) is the classic “unicorn”: a wealthy financier with economic stability, a lavish lifestyle, and the refined manners of an old-fashioned gentleman. John (Chris Evans), Lucy’s long-term ex, is a struggling theater actor who still lives in a cramped apartment with nosy roommates. However, this familiar romantic trope offers a sharp social commentary on how dating and emotional intimacy have changed in the 21st century.

The Day Love Became a Commodity

So, where does that leave us? Here. At someone else’s wedding. I can’t give you the wedding or the marriage you want. I couldn’t even give you the relationship you wanted. It’s been years, and I still can’t afford to be with you.

_{John (Chris Evans), Materialists}

In a society that increasingly values material wealth, we may be heading down a dangerous path. Are we willing to sacrifice genuine romantic fulfillment for a staged, picture-perfect lifestyle? The days of chance encounters and spontaneous connections seem long gone. Back then, strangers could unexpectedly and serendipitously spark something meaningful. Now, dating apps dominate, and every interaction is calculated. In cinematic terms, dates often seem scripted.

In the press notes, Celine Song stated, “The things that are in the movie came from the truth I learned: that there is a very funny, very dark objectification of each other’s humanity, and therefore a very real commodification of each other, as we go through this thing we call dating.” Clearly, capitalism profoundly shapes the way we connect with others today. Endless doomscrolling and swiping left or right in search of the next potential partner can dull our thoughtfulness in meaningful interactions, hindering our ability to establish sincere, enduring relationships.

Unlike the Netflix series Bridgerton (2020) created by Chris Van Dusen, Materialists does not romanticize or sensationalize the material side of love in a pop culture way. Rather, it exposes the most alienating effects of the pursuit of love, showing how it becomes entangled with power and social ambition. In Bridgerton‘s fictional Regency England, characters adhere to rigid lineage and affluence rules in courtship. Yet, the show glamorizes the marriage market, transforming social maneuvering into a dazzling spectacle.

However, Materialists hinges on the underlying tension between the human need for connection and the growing erosion of empathy. Even our language has shifted, reducing people to objects or assets and describing them as if they were pieces of furniture or racehorses, rather than the complex individuals they are. Lucy and her colleagues are guilty of this, too.

Love Against the Machine: Resisting Dehumanization

We’re talking about people. People are people are people are people. They come as they are. And all I can hope to find for you is a man that you can tolerate for the next 50 years who likes you at all. And you are not a catch, because you are not a fish.

_{Lucy (Dakota Johnson), Materialists}

While Past Lives explored the quiet, intimate rhythms of long-term emotional connections and the bittersweet nature of what-ifs and missed opportunities, Materialists shifts its focus to the transactional and performative aspects of contemporary dating. The Guardian labeled Materialists an “anti-capitalist rom-com,” as much as a high-budget, star-studded production can claim the label. The film reveals just how capitalism can infiltrate and corrupt our ethics and most intimate pursuits.

With a similar sense of nostalgia, Song’s sophomore film offers a satirical look at the gritty realities of modern romance, exposing the flaws beneath a seemingly perfect facade. Lucy herself becomes increasingly disillusioned with the world around her. She questions its underlying values and attempts to dismantle the idea that love can be measured, bought, or packaged like any other commodity.

Song felt it was important to show the dangers of treating people like facts and figures. (Warning: spoilers ahead). When one of Lucy’s most beloved clients, Sophie (Zoë Winters), is assaulted on a date, the successful matchmaker struggles with self-blame and realizes that careful planning can’t control the complexities of human behavior. Though this incident steals some of the spotlight from the main plot, it exposes the harsh reality that women face when dating.

With its biting portrayal of a society where romance hinges on class and status, Materialists seems to position itself as a modern successor to Jane Austen‘s Pride and Prejudice (1813)—and rightly so. The film dissects how love is rarely free from social constraints, demonstrating Austen’s enduring relevance in the contemporary age. Although the love story plays out differently in Materialists, Harry and Mr. Darcy bear some resemblance to each other in that they are both defined by their high social standing and guarded personalities, concealing deep-seated vulnerability beneath a facade of pride and restraint.

Rom-Coms Reimagined

Much has changed since the classic rom-coms of the 2000s, such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), and 13 Going on 30 (2004). Those films featured love wrapped in playful misunderstandings and tied up with happy endings. In Materialists, Celine Song deliberately breaks from that formula, forcing the audience to confront a far less comfortable version of modern love. However, Song relies on familiar visual and narrative cues of the rom-com genre, such as meet-cutes, radiant lighting, feel-good montages, and over-the-shoulder shots, only to subvert them as the story progresses.

A departure from her role in the Fifty Shades film series, Dakota Johnson’s character embodies the “girl next door” archetype: an approachable woman with a fragile core, reminiscent of her role in Cooper Raiff‘s Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022). Celine Song herself described Johnson as a chameleon in press notes for her ability to convey a wide range of emotions, proving her the perfect choice for this new wave of the genre. As for John, Chris Evans embodies the director’s vision perfectly with his clean-cut appearance and subtle gruffness. While Johnson and Evans seem to follow the blueprint of classic rom-com characters playing into the will-they-or-won’t-they trope, Pedro Pascal definitely brings an unexpected presence to the screen. Riding the wave of “Pedro Pascal mania,” he embodies the image of a gentleman whose confidence never crosses the line into arrogance.

Without mocking the cinematic portrayal of love, Song reimagines traditional rom-com clichés, capturing people at their best, worst, and everything in between. Song and cinematographer Shabier Kirchner—who also collaborated with Song on Past Lives—have crafted a 35mm film with a simple, straightforward visual language that feels as natural and effortless as love itself. Avoiding pop Netflix productions, this choice underscores the film’s commitment to intimacy and authenticity over spectacle. Shot in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film subtly pays homage to early romantic comedy classics, using its framing to bring warmth and nostalgia to the picture. The costume design also significantly contributes to the film’s atmosphere. Katina Danabassis explained that she intended to create a style that felt simultaneously “vintage and future,” which helps immerse the audience in a timeless world.

Is Love the Last Religion?

In response to the question of whether we can turn back from the winding road we’re on, Song and Johnson answer with a resounding yes. However, it requires the courage to let our guards down, build relationships from the ground up, uncover our true selves, and resist societal expectations. In fact, it is our duty to protect the delicate and contradictory nature of love and affection and challenge the forces that reduce it to a transaction or a matter of convenience.

Say, “Find somebody who makes some figures”
Preferably one that’s got lots of zeroes
The only figure my baby’s got is mine
[…]

You’re in love
And there’s no doubt about it
And there’s no use in missing out

_{My Baby (Got Nothing At All) by Japanese Breakfast}

In addition to Daniel Pemberton‘s evocative score, the original song by Japanese Breakfast that plays during the credits perfectly captures the essence of Materialists, emphasizing that the most rewarding investment we can make is in our inherent human capital.

Materialists arrives at just the right moment in today’s culture. At first, it charms like a classic, full of heartwarming moments and nostalgic warmth. However, in true A24 fashion, the film delves deeper. Song compels the audience to confront a fundamental question: Are we willing to sacrifice our humanity—our empathy, vulnerability, and capacity for genuine connection—for status, possessions, or social validation? Song reflects our inner contradictions and the conflict between our material desires and our human needs, holding up a mirror to our own lives.

If love is truly “the last religion, the last country, the last ideology,” then why shouldn’t we devote ourselves to it? By deconstructing the comforting rhythms of a rom-com with a sharp critique of modern materialism, Materialists reminds us that the things that matter most are worth protecting.