'Materialists' review: Celine Song's sharp satire on love in the age of algorithms

‎Celine Song’s sophomore feature, Materialists, opens with an unexpected image: a prehistoric couple standing together, perhaps in love, perhaps just surviving. It’s a jarring yet deliberate prelude to a film steeped in the cold calculations of contemporary romance—where love, like everything else in a hypermodern New York, is a matter of metrics.

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Chris Evans, Dakota Johnson, and Pedro Pascal for 'Materialists.'

‎A24

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‎Following her critically acclaimed debut Past Lives, Song shifts tone and tempo. Materialists is edgier, more sardonic, less about longing and more about navigating the absurdities of modern dating. Where Past Lives mourned love postponed, Materialists questions whether love, in an age of apps and algorithms, can even be real.

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‎At the center of this romantic economy is Lucy, played with icy precision by Dakota Johnson. A professional matchmaker with nine successful marriages under her belt, Lucy approaches romance like a financial planner: methodically, transactionally, and without illusion. Her clients seek soulmates by spreadsheet, complete with emotional ROI.

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A24

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‎Lucy’s romantic dilemma unfolds between two archetypes: John (Chris Evans), a charming but financially unstable actor, and Harry (Pedro Pascal), a slick private equity mogul with a townhouse that feels more like a showroom than a home. Each man represents a different valuation of desire—one messy and magnetic, the other secure and pristine.

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‎Yet Materialists is more than a love triangle. Song deconstructs romantic conventions with economic metaphors, asking how much we internalize the values of capitalism in our emotional lives. Love becomes not just negotiated, but commodified.

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‎A24

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‎There’s wit in the absurdity, especially in montages of clients listing “ideal partner traits” like a shopping list, and visual elegance courtesy of cinematographer Shabier Kirchner. Daniel Pemberton’s lush score adds depth, even when the script stretches thin.

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‎Stylistically, Song distinguishes Lucy’s interactions with each man—composed shots with Harry contrast sharply with the jittery, unstable framing of scenes with John. It’s a subtle but effective metaphor: one path offers polish, the other passion.

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‎Still, the film struggles to fully convince. Its cleverness sometimes overshadows its emotional core. For all its insights into transactional love, Materialists ultimately feels emotionally undercooked. Lucy’s journey, while intellectually intriguing, never quite transcends its own cynicism.

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‎A24

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‎The film circles back to those early humans, trying to underscore the timeless chaos of connection. But instead of resonating, the metaphor feels overplayed—reducing complexity to thesis.

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‎Materialists is undeniably stylish and timely. But like many relationships it portrays, it leaves you wondering: was this really love, or just a well-executed simulation?