A film that speaks to the desires, insecurities and unfair expectations we have in the dating scene.
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It's the summer of Pedro Pascal! Co-starring Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans, the trio heads the sophomore narrative feature by writer-director Celine Song.
Materialists follows Lucy (Johnson), a high-performing matchmaker in New York City, who meets both Harry (Pascal), a rich and charming bachelor, and her ex John (Evans), a struggling actor who works as a waiter in-between acting jobs, at a wedding banquet. As she continues to meet new challenges at work, Lucy starts to navigate her own equally complicated feelings caught between the two men in her life.
The film checks a lot of boxes in the "city-romcom" genre, but it takes on the complexities of modern dating with a confrontational directness not seen in many other romcoms.
Age, wealth, height, body type, educational qualifications, religious belief, political alignment, upbringing – there's a quirky cleverness in how Celine Song approaches each of these with brutal honesty yet not coming across as offensive or stereotypical. Though not all encompassing and representing, it is likely that any viewer can relate to at least a thing or two in this film somehow.
Depending on the audience, while some may appreciate the candidness in Song's storytelling, others might prefer not being spoon-fed in a way this film did. If Song had meant for the movie to trigger viewers to ponder and reflect, perhaps there are moments in the film which could be left a little open-ended. After all, dating is unique for each individual, and what works for a couple may not work for another.
Although this film is not made to impress moviegoers from a technical aspect, cinephiles who are "tech-gurus" can still sing a few praises, for the film is a treat to the eyes – notably its smooth cinematography and pretty colour grading. For a film set in New York, Materialists manages to hypnotise viewers with some striking visuals of the metropolis without spotlighting the most popular attractions (think Times Square, the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty).
If forced to compare (but people really shouldn’t), Materialists is far and below Past Lives. This film, however, despite its imperfections (which ironically also mirrors the reality of dating), speaks to the desires, insecurities and unfair expectations many of us have as we put ourselves out there. And, despite its title, it really is made for both materialists and non-materialists.
Materialists opens in cinemas across Singapore on 28 August,.
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