Materialists review (2025)

Materialists is the opposite of a feel-good, rom com or romantic drama. Right from the start, the film signals true love is an illusion and is more of a business transaction. Whether that’s true is debatable but for certain Materialists is seriously deficient in heart or charm.

Lucy (Dakota Johnson, Madame Web) is a non-romantic matchmaker who specializes in pairing high-end clientele with partners that make the most cents…as in dollars that can also match their demanding criteria.

Materialists’ quirky “humor” comes from Lucy’s meetings with clients who discuss their dating essentials. Most of the candidates seeking her services have wildly unrealistic standards but are sadly too rooted in reality to be particularly funny.

Despite her finnicky clientele, Lucy is good at her job and is closing in on 10 successful matches leading to marriage. It’s at the latest one that she runs into Harry, (Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us) a well-to do finance whiz who in Lucy’s terms is a unicorn. He’s got everything her clients would want. Harry isn’t interested in being the featured match — he’s intrigued by Lucy.

Materialists director/writer Celine Song (Past Lives) runs into her first obstacle with this encounter, which lacks the fun of a rom com meet cute or the smoothness of a romance drama. After several conversations and a few dates, Lucy questions why someone who could have any woman would want to be with her.

That’s a fair question and one that Song fails to adequately explain. This is further challenging as Johnson lacks a certain genuine likability. That’s that trait that came so naturally in rom coms/romantic dramas for performers like Kate Hudson, Reese Witherspoon or Jennifer Lopez. Johnson never manages to get lost in Lucy and her performance very much feels like an actress aware that she’s playing a role instead of being the character.

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Naturally there’s some conflict for Lucy’s on paper happily ever after. Lucy also reconnects with her ex, John (Chris Evans, Red One), at the wedding. John and Lucy had a five-year relationship, but they struggled to make ends meet seemingly due to his lack of drive. Lucy grew up poor and didn’t want to face a future not knowing how the bills were going to get paid.

Song spends too much time on John and his crummy living situation with an inconsiderate slob of a roommate. Materialists probably needed a third option for Lucy as Harry is too perfect while John is far more of a fixer-upper situation for even true love to rehab. Given Lucy’s cynical take on love and marriage, this shouldn’t be much of a competition.

Johnson gives Lucy more aloofness than the confidence in not settling for what she wants out of a relationship and eventual marriage. This makes Lucy the worst kind of main character in this kind of love triangle as Materialists doesn’t provide enough incentive to root for her happily ever after ending. Fortunately, Evans and Pascal are up for shouldering the load.

Evans shows a vulnerability to his performance that makes him come off like much more than the stock true love option. He brings a warmth to John that should make an obvious case for anyone who cares about more than social status. Smartly, Song doesn’t make Harry the villain.

In the rare occasions where all three are on screen together, Harry isn’t dismissive or talks down to John to make himself look better. Avoiding the romantic rival trope was a wise decision and allows viewers to take in Pascal’s quiet confidence at work.

Materialists takes a darker turn than warranted for the film’s ultimate message as one of Lucy’s clients, Sophie (Zoë Winters, Succession) has a more serious encounter with one of her matches. Song gives this subplot plenty of time through the film’s back end, but it wraps with a whimper and not at all in a satisfying fashion.

That’s in keeping with Materialists’ second half, which raises some potentially intriguing avenues to explore but ultimately settles on an ending that much like its main character, it doesn’t earn.

Rating: 3 out of 10

Photo Credit: A24

Materialists is available on Blu Ray at Amazon.

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