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2. 21-06-2025
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Film Review | ★★★★☆ | Romance/Comedy | PG | 116 min | June 2025

A genre that seems to have become relic, Romantic Comedies felt like they would never make a comeback. The decline of physical print media seemed to put every Rom-Com heroine out of a job. That is, until Celine Song’s sophomore film, Materialists, released earlier this month. It follows Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a matchmaker in New York City, caught in a love triangle with Harry (Pedro Pascal) and John (Chris Evans). It’s a classic tale blended with Song’s style that she established with her debut, Past Lives (2023).

Following most films of this genre, the film takes place in New York City where we meet Lucy, who is celebrating her ninth wedding. It is, of course, not her own personal wedding, but the ninth couple that she’s matched getting married. Lucy sees matchmaking as math, calculating matches based on income, looks, height and familial background. Her skills come in handy when she goes to her client’s wedding and meets Harry, the brother of the groom. Harry is perfect in every sense. He is rich from a wealthy family, good-looking, and tall. In Lucy’s books, he is supposed to be the one she marries. At the same wedding, we meet John, Lucy’s ex-boyfriend who is an actor working with the catering service at the wedding. He is the opposite of Harry; he lives with three roommates, he is broke, and his life is unstable. He is the kind Lucy does not want to be with, and his lack of money is the whole reason they broke up in the first place despite being in love. Lucy is set up with a choice: does she go to the rich man with the stable life or the broke one with whom she was so in love? 

Having seen so few good Rom-Coms in theatres lately, I was ecstatic to see Celine Song revive the genre after being blown away by Past Lives (2023). The film felt very reminiscent of Nora Ephron’s films but with a slower pace that kept me on my toes the whole time. Although I knew Lucy probably would have ended up with John, it was hard to know with the way Song made Lucy and Harry’s relationship feel like they really were in love. Song’s dialogue reeled me in through simple scenes where you felt more through the implications of the dialogue than the words themselves. 

Dakota Johnson played the perfect leading lady being laid back and cool, but truly soft on the inside. Watching her take control of each scene, pouring her heart out at times, supportive at others, and cold in some really played to the range of emotions in the film. Her character could be compared to Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally (1989) where she tries to be the independent, nonchalant woman, but is really more complex than that. Her scene partners, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans play their respective roles to the love triangle trope, both equally charming in their own ways, making it impossible to root for one or the other. 

My favourite part was that the film was shot on 35mm which always gives a different feeling to a film, but stays true to the rom-coms of the 1980s-90s where it was their only choice. The grain effect makes it feel a little imperfect, and lets the audience view the world in a more imperfect way. It truly feels like an escape from the real world where everything always has to look flawless. 

Materialists is the kind of movie that theatres have been lacking for so long. It is colourful, strays away from all the CGI and gray imagery that has seemingly taken over theatres as of late. It is truly a beautiful story of how love always stands the test of time and material possessions are just that: material. 

Ila Nabi
Boston
June 2025

1. en-ashram-N/G
2. 21-06-2025
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