Celine Song’s Materialists repurposes the classic love triangle for the fretful, lonely and money-obsessed present. The film channelises the conventions of both the talk-heavy Hollywood drama and freewheeling European art cinema while tackling one of the oldest questions of human civilisation: where is true love to be found?
Lucy’s career is based on this very question. A matchmaker in New York City, Lucy (Dakota Johnson) prides herself on her ability to create lasting partnerships that “tick all the boxes”. She has mastered the smooth patter of the successful sales rep. When private banker Harry (Pedro Pascal) spots her at a wedding converting some guests into future clients, he recognises a kindred spirit.
Harry ticks Lucky’s biggest box – he is wealthy, unlike her previous boyfriend John (Chris Evans).
What Lucy does for Harry is less clear. How John fits into Lucy’s scheme is also barely convincing. The 118-minute film promises to reinvent the relationship drama, but turns out to be too safe and convenient for an era dominated by urban loneliness, brutally demanding dating apps and concerns about appearances.
The film’s much-vaunted casting turns out to be its biggest hurdle. It’s easy to imagine three ridiculously attractive individuals unable to resist each other. It’s tougher to imagine them trapped in the kind of dilemmas that plague the average relationship-seeker.
There is immense promise in the early sequences, which beautifully set up the characters. Lucy is at the stage where she has been subsumed into her sales pitch. Harry is the poor little rich man who has everything and nothing. John is the kind of reckless boyfriend whom women date when they are more impressionable.
The film maintains to a fair degree the illusion of being a grown-up, honest twist to the typical love story until Celine Song’s script runs out of inventiveness and courage. A sub-plot about a brutal experience faced by one of Lucy’s clients is cursorily handled, as is John’s precarious economic situation.
Song’s follow-up to her acclaimed directorial debut Past Lives (2023) is strongest in the searching conversations between people attempting to define the contours of relationships. Song’s ear for sharp dialogue, and patience with letting her characters work through their feelings, completes the mirage of depth.
Materialists demands, and earns, concentration as Lucy, Harry and John circle around each other and talk through their expectations. What they ultimately say isn’t always profound, and even banal at times.
The new film isn’t as stagey as Past Lives. Sensuous camerawork by Shabier Kirchener and elegant editing by Keith Fraase give a sexy intimacy to the courting rituals between the leads. Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans are lovely to behold, gliding their way through a film that eschews the messiness of modern love for conventional tameness.
