Celine Song‘s exploration of modern love and value in Materialists takes a sharp look at the transactional nature of relationships in today’s New York City, examining how the pursuit of worth and desirability shapes personal connections in an era dominated by swipes and surface-level judgments. With a star-studded cast including Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans, the film opens June 13 via A24, navigating the luxurious but emotionally fraught world of high-end matchmaking against the backdrop of modern dating culture.
Challenging Modern Romance in a Transactional Era
Materialists dives into the rapidly shifting landscape of romance, where apps and algorithms can leave individuals feeling disposable. Rather than focusing on togetherness, the film interrogates how people assess each other’s worth, asking what a partner can provide to elevate their own status. Celine Song, following her acclaimed drama Past Lives, continues to probe these themes, questioning the depth and authenticity of relationships built on transactional and strategic exchanges.
Unlike typical romantic comedies, Materialists dials up the nuance and complexity, offering a more commercial tone without sacrificing emotional depth. The film deliberately steers away from rom-com conventions, despite a lighter, more accessible touch and frequent humor. It leverages the cachet and charisma of its A-list performers not as a gimmick, but as a way to draw viewers into an artfully layered exploration of human connection.
Inside the World of Elite Matchmaking
Set in New York’s affluent social circles, Materialists centers on Lucy, played by Dakota Johnson, a professional matchmaker whose business is to discern value and orchestrate mutually beneficial relationships. Lucy approaches love with a pragmatic eye, viewing it as a matter of finding the right deal rather than fostering romantic ideals. Her role is to identify opportunity, maximize gains, and facilitate what she describes as the perfect match, reflecting the commodification of intimacy within her exclusive clientele.
The film opens at a wedding Lucy orchestrated, highlighting the underlying motivations that drive her work. Here, she encounters Henry Castillo—portrayed by Pedro Pascal—a wealthy financier who represents the pinnacle of material success, but whose attitude toward relationships contrasts sharply with Lucy’s transactional thinking. Henry has achieved material abundance and seeks something more idealistic, engaging with Lucy in a flirtation that is both a challenge and a mirror for her approach to modern romance.
A Complex Love Triangle in the City
Materialists weaves a non-traditional triangle as Lucy crosses paths with her ex-boyfriend, John, played by Chris Evans, at the same wedding. John, a struggling actor, earns his living as a caterer, unable to satisfy Lucy’s upward ambitions but still connected to her through lingering affection and unfulfilled dreams. The contrast between Henry’s stability and John’s persistent, if flawed, idealism creates a battleground between practical advancement and emotional connection.
As Henry dazzles Lucy with opulent New York experiences and the promise of security, she remains mindful of her own perceived shortcomings and questions whether she belongs in his world. Flashbacks to her failed relationship with John evoke a sense of what could have been, marked by tension, bitterness, and unresolved longing. The dynamic is neither comfortably balanced nor predictable, instead reflecting the messy, often contradictory impulses that define modern love.
Exploring Desirability and Consumer Culture in Relationships
Beyond the central romance, Materialists features side stories that expose the brutal realities of New York’s dating scene. Zoe Winters appears as one of Lucy’s more unfortunate clients, navigating indignities and setbacks that underscore how the search for love all too often reduces individuals to commodities. The supporting cast, including Marin Ireland, Sawyer Spielberg, and John Magaro, reinforce this theme in smaller but significant roles.
Materialists draws out the tension between aspiration and reality, showing Lucy as someone who is not overly materialistic, but who grows weary of the persistence of instability and disappointment. The city’s relentless pace and competitive spirit shape the choices its characters make, forcing them to reevaluate what happiness and fulfillment mean in a market-driven environment.
Craft, Aesthetics, and Performances
The film stands out visually and aurally, with cinematography by Shabier Kirchner and a score by Oscar-nominated composer Daniel Pemberton giving it a distinct atmosphere that contrasts the luxury of its settings with the vulnerability of its characters. The cast, including Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans, embrace these layered roles, giving the film emotional resonance and complexity that lift it above the superficial trappings of richer, glossier romance stories.
Materialists is careful to maintain a tone that is alternately reflective and uneasy, never sliding into easy solutions or clear moral judgments. Song’s direction, both visually and narratively, finds insight in the unsaid, revealing the power imbalances and anxieties lurking beneath social performance and ambition.
Significance and What Lies Ahead
Materialists is not a straightforward or entirely satisfying romantic tale—its strongest moments are in its observations about how desirability, self-worth, and the market forces of dating shape human behavior. With its mixed tone of hope, longing, and disappointment, the film leaves a lasting impression, if sometimes an ambiguous or ironic one, on the realities of seeking connection in a city that often treats people as replaceable assets.
As Celine Song continues her cinematic career, Materialists positions her as a director unafraid to interrogate the conflicted emotions and social contradictions at the heart of love today. The dark side of New York’s matchmaking elite provides a compelling backdrop for questions about authenticity and happiness, ensuring that the film will resonate for anyone who has considered what, exactly, they are bringing—or seeking—in the game of love.
