Capitulating off of the success of her debut film, Past Lives, Celine Song has returned to A24 to write and direct another romantic fairy tale set in New York, this time with a bigger cast - containing two Marvel stars (or three if you count Madame Web) and a bigger axe to grind with modernity's outlook on romance. It stars Dakota Johnson as Lucy, a successful professional matchmaker for New York City's more elite residents and a proud singleton, who's just celebrating the ninth marriage that she's been responsible for. While attending the wedding of her matches, she's seduced by the groom's brother and best man, Harry (Pedro Pascal) a gentleman in every sense of the word who ticks all her boxes for someone she'd be willing to marry. Though also working at the wedding, is out of work actor and Lucy's ex, John (Chris Evans), who makes it clear that he still has feelings for his past lover.
In a rare case, Materialists is a film where you maybe should know more about it going in past what's made available in the trailers and information given online. Even in this review's summary of the plot, it sounds like the film that the marketing is advertising. Don't be fooled, this film is not a romantic comedy in the style of the 2000s where Dakota Johnson finds herself in the middle of a love triangle situation and is forced to decide between two very handsome bachelors. It's a complete and brutal vivisection of the current dating climate and an analysis of how modern society has utterly forgotten the meaning of love and companionship. It's brutal, it's depressing and but is very fair on who, or rather what, it blames for the current state of romance.
Dakota Johnson's Lucy is a genius personified allegory for Tinder, Hinge, or any of the other viral dating apps that plague the modern dating stage. She categorises people, uses face value data to "match" them with other romantically and uses all sorts of forms of gaslighting and manipulation to make herself and her clients think that she's bringing people together, but at the end of the day, she's only really there to make money. Her dialogue is cold and calculated and portrays a person who knows all the facts but none of the truth and the film follows her journey to learning the latter with people like Pedro Pascal's warm and insecure Harry and her kind and caring ex-partner John, teaching her what love actually is all about.
Fittingly for a character of Lucy's type, Johnson's performance can be quite robotic, which sometimes adds to her aloof persona, but other times makes her a lacklustre screen presence. Johnson never fully commands the screen as the lead and it can't be helped to think that an actress with a tinge more charisma may have served better in this role, especially considering the obligation to charm that comes with her occupation. The fault can't entirely lay with Johnson, however, as other characters who are meant to be warm can sometimes come across as quite wooden. A notable example being Pedro Pascal who's led many a film with his usual skill but in some scenes in Materialists feels as though he's reading cue cards from behind the camera. The problem here is the script itself, which, while being a mostly poignant and stark look on romance, can sometimes prioritise making its point over making compelling characters and realistic dialogue. Many scenes are filled with Lucy's explanations of why dating is "like math" or how Pedro Pascal is a "unicorn" but the rarer scenes are one's tell us who she is outside of her work - this could be an oversight of Celine Song's writing or maybe add to her point that the characters are only seen at face value.
Materialists is far from the cheesy romantic comedies it aims to put down, instead of being the film equivalent of a chocolate milkshake - processed, overly sweet and fatty but ultimately comforting - it's a shot of espresso - strong, dark with a bitter taste but gives a burst of energy that allows you to think. It won't be to everyone's taste and will disappoint those looking for a drunken jealous brawl between Captain America and Mr. Fantastic but it's a film that's needed right now. It's a depressing mirror to society that still manages to provide a light at the end of the tunnel.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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