Materialists ★★★½

Why do people get married? Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a high-priced matchmaker in New York City and her job is to get people into relationships with an eye towards marriage. She is celebrating the 9th marriage she helped create when the bride, her client, Charlotte (Louisa Jacobson) sends her bridesmaids out on an urgent mission to find Lucy. Charlotte is having cold feet and needs some reassurance that this is the right decision. Charlotte laments that she is a “modern woman” and feels as though she is settling for marriage when she could do anything in her life. As she notes, it is not a marriage for political alliance or a dowry as historical unions would often be. Lucy, in her own way, helps Charlotte find the purpose in her union and it is this scene among a few others that set the thematic tone for writer and director Celine Song’s Materialists. In a world where one can choose anything, why choose marriage?

Materialists is at times a slightly hyperbolized comedy of manners on modern dating and at others a mature and understanding dramatic look at the role of romance today. Lucy is on the frontlines of it and sees the long lists. Men and women alike have their own litany of requests. Height, weight, job, income, age, and more, with nobody really willing to compromise and everybody having a deeply impersonal look at marriage when describing their ideal match. All are facing down their fear of ending up alone and some, like Sophie (Zoë Winters), even plead that they are “trying to settle.” It is said in a sales pitch, but there is plenty of truth in a statement that Lucy gives to potential customers. People are often focused on all of these details about their partner, but marriage is about picking who will be your friend in the nursing home. Whether they are over 6’0”, have the ideal BMI, or work at that six-figure job or not, these are inconsequential in the end because love and marriage are about something else, something beyond what makes up a person’s basic personal details.

Dating is something that can go in different directions. On a basic outline of a person, one cannot know their heart nor their soul. Lucy works with many clients and can often be guilty of looking at love unemotionally. It is a business deal in her eyes and everybody carries a certain “value” in the “dating marketplace.” But, as her boss Violet (Marin Ireland) reminds her, “dating is a risk” and they are being let in on one of the most intimate parts of a person’s life. Everybody is not just a math equation to be added together to a logical sum, nor is everybody as they appear. In one particularly harrowing sequence, Lucy discovers that one of her clients was assaulted on a date. Lucy pours over her notes about the man, but finds nothing that would raise a red flag, but yet, he assaulted a woman that Lucy paired with him. Song’s multi-pronged look at romance and modern dating not only critiques the often vapid and impersonal way that people approach such an emotional decision, but also the leap of faith that everyone must be willing to take to even enter the world of dating. Putting one’s heart and body on the line with a stranger is an immensely personal decision, one that goes beyond basic compatibility to something beneath the surface.

Lucy is right at the center of such a situation and here, Materialists finds itself as a classic love triangle romance. At Charlotte’s wedding, she meets the brother of the groom, Peter (Pedro Pascal). He is, in the matchmaking world, a “unicorn.” He is highly educated, attractive, over 6’0”, and works a high-income job. His list of potential suitors would be numerous and, yet, he wants to take Lucy out on a date. Also at the wedding, she runs into John (Chris Evans), her ex-boyfriend, with whom she also starts to rekindle a relationship. It was not a relationship that originally ended over a lack of feeling, but rather a lack of resources. As Lucy will admit, she broke up with John because they “were poor”. They both grew up poor and John, as a struggling actor in New York City who is now picking up shifts at a catering company, is still poor. He will likely always be poor. Peter is certainly not and when going out on dates with Lucy, shows her just how not poor he is with lavish evenings at exclusive restaurants. Peter’s apartment comes with no roommates and its price is in the 8-figures, while John’s comes with a few grimy roommates, a litany of problems indicative of a building falling apart, and a rent share in the high 3-figures. The pair could not be more different and here, Materialists brings to a head its look at love in the modern world. Lucy has a good job and is good at that job, but Peter represents something she has never had: luxury. She struggles to figure out why he would want her and though eventually satisfied with an answer, she still comes back to John and is torn, because she loves and will always love John but Peter also opens other doors for her and “checks many boxes.” John is poor and they would be poor together, but they would be rich in other ways. Perhaps those ways mean more in the end than the monetary benefits of being with Peter, but Peter is also a good man. Is there enough chemistry to make it all add up in either direction?

Materialists is an often insightful and smart film with Song’s script perhaps on-the-nose but so incisive and intuitive that one cannot help but be struck by how easily it weaves its commentary into real human characters. It is not an out-and-out comedy, but finds laughs in the natural chemistry between its actors. It is funny in a slice of life way, but also gravely serious and dramatic in the way that life often is, taking some of the air out of its romantic comedy trappings to deliver something more understated yet just as heartfelt. Its look at love can so often feel stiff and business-like, given the framing around Lucy’s matchmaker work; however, in its love triangle, Materialists finds its soul. It is swoon-worthy and stirring, a celebration of finding love amidst this crazy and hectic world. Perhaps its sentimental inclination does not match its hard-edged cynicism and clear-eyed view of the reality of dating, or perhaps it is the optimism and hope it possesses that shows why people try. Like a Jane Austen novel, it is able to balance its romantic/societal critique and romantic expression with ease and wonder. Materialists is sweet and cheesy in its expression of love, but impossible to resist. Dakota Johnson is wonderful, easily flipping between the seriousness and the levity in the script. Chris Evans is charming and a calming presence amidst the chaos. Pedro Pascal is expectedly suave and naturally funny. Zoë Winters has a street-set scene that steals the show, a raw display of emotion that leaves the viewer with their jaw on the floor. It is a cast that matches the tone and feeling that Song is after at every turn, a credit to her direction and their skill.

Why do people get married? Everybody has their own reasons, but Materialists is here to champion love as a truly special reason why. Maybe it is often ill-fated and a doomed course, but it can also be beautiful and soul-fulfilling. Celine Song sees a world of long lists and high expectations, but Materialists shows the magic in casting those preconceived notions of who one’s soulmate is to find the love lurking beneath the surface. Sweet and smart, Materialists is a romantic drama to be cherished.