Celine Song’s new romcom “Materialists” hit theatres June 13, 2025, receiving rave reviews with a successful opening weekend. The film has raked in about $46 million at the box office, with a production budget of only $20 million. Starring talented actors Chris Evans, Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal and brandishing a rotten tomatoes score of 80%, the makings of a hit film are all there. What “Materialists” lacks, however, is the heart required to make a movie truly matter long past an audience’s viewing of it.
The movie focuses on a woman named Lucy, played by Dakota Johnson, a matchmaker determined to help her clients find their perfect partner in New York City. Her occupation as a matchmaker is a clear source of pride for her, and the complicated exploration of her career is by far one of the most interesting things about the movie; however, it gets pushed to the side in favor of the romantic drama. Lucy is decidedly single until she finds what appears to be the perfect match – a rich, conventionally attractive gentleman named Harry, played by Pedro Pascal. He pursues her until they eventually get together, but not without some drama from John, Chris Evans’ character,, who is still hopelessly in love with Lucy despite their messy breakup.
Even after Lucy and Harry’s relationship is established, she continually goes back to John – a broke, struggling actor – as a shoulder to lean on, creating a love triangle that on paper, sounds pretty compelling. Unfortunately, the film portrays each of these characters less like people and more like stand-ins for their respective stereotypes. Lucy, an upper middle-class New Yorker from a working-class background refuses to date John because of his money troubles, but the root of her insecurity is never fully expanded upon aside from a vague fear of ‘becoming her parents.’ Lucy has no base desires, with it being largely unclear what truly drives her character apart from money. This is not to say a character cannot be greedy, but considering the long-winded, teary-eyed monologues of Lucy apologizing to John for wanting a wealthy partner, you would think somewhere in there they might explore the reason why.
To pair with this, the film’s dialogue sounds as stilted and superficial as a Hinge profile, even during moments clearly intended to be heartfelt. There are also plenty of scenarios presented throughout the film that are simply too absurd to connect with. Yes, Pedro Pasal’s character shares a tender confession about having leg extension surgery to become taller. There are tears, and yes, you are meant to take it seriously.
This all inevitably leads to nothing, with there being no real point to most of the film’s major conflict except perhaps to instill in you the moral that money is not everything and you can get the girl if you just pick up a few more shifts at your temp job. Such a conclusion would not be so deeply unsatisfying if the story itself were constructed in a unique, honest or compelling way, but by relying on buzzwords and cliches, Song’s piece neglects to portray the vulnerable and messy relationships daters in this age and economy truly experience.