Each year, I see only a handful of movies I’d ever consider unless circumstances warranted it. These are mostly films nominated for several Academy Awards (especially Best Picture) and those consistently recommended by social media influencers I follow. Sometimes I’ll check aggregate scores before deciding. Celine Song’s (Past Lives) Materialists won’t earn any Oscar nominations. It had lukewarm aggregate scores (77% critics, 65% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.2/10 on IMDB, 70 on Metacritic). These two things, combined with a plot that didn’t pique my interest, made me think this movie wouldn’t see the light of day. However, it felt like every movie influencer I follow kept singing its praise, with many in their end-of-year Top 20. It was enough to give it its fair chance.
Song, who earned two Oscar nominations (Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay) for her directorial debut, follows up Past Lives with a film that says just as much, just in a different way. Whereas Past Lives might leave you broken by the time the closing credits roll, Materialists might leave your jaw on the floor with a scene for the ages between its leads that, if you’re like me, you won’t see coming at all.
Lucy (Dakota Johnson – Am I OK? Our Friend) is a high-end matchmaker for Adore, a New York City-based matchmaking company. She matches successful but busy clients with potential mates. This type of service was more popular before the Internet took out the intermediary with companies like Match, eHarmony, Hinge, Bumble, Tinder, and others. By this film’s 2026 release, with all the catfishing, bots, imposter accounts, and more, plus the growing danger of anonymous meet-ups, perhaps the intermediary element has returned to the industry, where a human acts in their client’s best interest. Song’s take on the industry makes it seem artificial and superficial.
It’s hard to read Lucy at first. She is deeply engaged with her clients, doing her best to make sure each match she sets up “checks off a lot of boxes.” After each date, she checks in with her clients. She’s, seemingly, available to them at all hours of the day and on weekends. She is good at her job. When we meet her, her boss, Violet (Marin Ireland – Hell or High Water, The Miseducation of Cameron Post), celebrates her ninth client marriage. This is our first glimpse of the industry’s business side. Adore’s goal is to find successful professionals their forever mate. There may already be a conflict of interest.
We see the industry’s highs and lows throughout the film, and how Lucy adjusts to it and grows with it. As you might expect with someone searching for the perfect anything (home, car, dog, mate), each client has a thorough list of what they want in an ideal partner, which is where the film’s title comes into play. Lucy’s female clients want her to deliver the perfect package: good-looking, fit, high earning potential, fashionable, affluent, and able to fund a lifestyle that includes fine dining, travel, gifts, highly sought-after event experiences, and more. Similarly, her male clients all seem to want the same beautiful, toned women in their late 20s.
Johnson plays Lucy to near perfection. The film is just short of two hours, yet Lucy’s trajectory feels unrushed. Events happen that shape her, some for better, some for worse, and it all feels natural. She learns. She grows. She adapts. At the start of the film, Lucy is single. We learn her last relationship was with John (Chris Evans, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Snowpiercer), an aspiring actor moonlighting as a waiter. They bump into each other at the wedding of Lucy’s most recent success story. Here, we learn the pair essentially broke up because neither of them could, at the time, provide financially for the life each wanted. They were poor. He was okay with that. She wasn’t.
The other major player is Harry (Pedro Pascal – Gladiator II, Triple Frontier). Harry seems to have it all: a rare combination of a handsome face, a desirable body, and a sizable income. At first, Lucy sees him as an ideal candidate for her clients. As she gets to know him, she quickly becomes attracted to him. He checks off many of the boxes she looks for. Beyond his physical appearance and wealth, he is professionally successful and exudes confidence. He is polite, articulate, and educated. He is seen as a unicorn in the busy New York dating scene. Lucy and Harry begin a courtship, and like her clients, she’s swept up in what Harry can be and what he can offer her. But of course, he’s far from perfect. We all are. The middle third of the movie is what makes it worth watching, as we watch Lucy navigate her job, her relationship with Harry, and her rediscovery of John, and what that might bring. Song uses the first act to bring all of the changing parts into place. It’s worth it.
What I loved most about the film was the twist I didn’t see coming. It hits like a sack of heavy stones, pulling the film in a different direction and setting it apart from other, lighter comedies like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Wedding Planner, and The Wedding Singer. Song uses comedy to draw us in and romance to keep us invested, then shifts into a film that feels far more practical than I’d pegged it for. Even better, the twist is revealed earlier than a lesser film might. Unfortunately, after the twist, the film limped to the finish line, offering an ending that we’ve seen too many times. I’m willing to overlook that because of the twist’s shock value and the immediacy of what happened right after.
This was marvelous filmmaking; for a story that felt so simple and honest, it almost feels silly that no one has told it until now. Nonetheless, it was both engrossing and enthralling. The twist was great. It could prompt days-long conversations about what we value in a partner and a relationship. This movie made me sad, but I get it. We’ve been conditioned to believe in materialism ever since we were little kids. Song brings her version of that story to the big screen in a film that will stick with you long after you might ever imagine.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 9.25/10
Character Chemistry 9.25/10
Acting 9.25/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
91.25%
B+
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