Celine Song's Materialists Proves Romance Movies Are Far From Dead
Celine Song just might be the filmmaker to make romance movies great again. After breaking our hearts with Past Lives, she’s back with Materialists, and this time she’s brought along Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal for what could be the most talked-about love triangle in recent memory. With an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Song’s latest romantic drama is already being hailed as a sophisticated take on modern love, money, and the choices that define us.
Look, let’s be honest here, Past Lives absolutely destroyed us in the best possible way. Song introduced us to the beautiful concept of In-Yun, made us fall in love with characters who were so close yet impossibly far apart, and then left us sitting in theaters questioning everything we thought we knew about love and timing.
The film didn’t just tell a love story; it examined the complexities of choice, the weight of what-ifs, and that nagging voice in our heads asking “am I enough?” It was raw, it was real, and it left audiences worldwide emotionally devastated. So naturally, we’ve all been wondering, how do you follow up something that perfect?
Materialists Delivers Another Emotional KnockoutHere’s the thing about Song, she doesn’t play it safe. She likes to keep things risky.
Materialists follows Lucy, a young New York City matchmaker who finds herself caught between two very different men: her successful but imperfect ex and what appears to be her perfect match. The film has been described as “a glossy, good-looking drama veined with humor, introspection and questioning intelligence, driven as much by insightful writing as star charisma.”
But this isn’t your typical rom-com. Song has crafted what some critics are calling an “anti-rom-com” that examines the shallow nature of modern dating culture while still delivering those butterflies we all crave. The film asks the hard questions: What happens when love meets money? How do we measure the value of a relationship? And most importantly, who are we really choosing – the person or the lifestyle they represent?
Okay, can we talk about how insane this casting is? Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal in a love triangle? It’s like someone took our collective celebrity crushes and decided to put them all in one movie just to watch us lose our minds.
The last time I remember being this excited over a casting was for Challengers, which offered a similar predicament, of course in a slightly different premise of tennis, with Zendaya at the center and Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor in a mind-boggling three-way… situation. But this? This feels even more unhinged.
Anyways, back to Materialists.
Johnson, who’s been searching for that perfect role to showcase her range, seems to have found it here. Critics are noting that she “actually seemed to deeply enjoy” this role, and honestly, it shows. She’s playing Lucy with a complexity that goes beyond the typical rom-com heroine. She’s flawed, ambitious, and making choices that might not always be likable but are undeniably human.
Then there’s Evans and Pascal, two actors who couldn’t be more different but somehow work perfectly as opposing forces in Lucy’s life. Critics have praised how “Chris was devoted and displayed his range in a moving fashion” while “Pedro is lovely as always.” The chemistry between all three leads has been the talk of every screening, and their press tour has been giving us moments we’ll be talking about for years.
Here’s where things get messy in the best way. Sure, the film’s sitting pretty with an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, but honestly? The critics seem a bit divided. Some are saying it’s gorgeous but doesn’t hit as hard as Past Lives did, which, fair enough, that movie was practically life-changing.
But here’s what I find interesting: regular moviegoers are absolutely eating this up. People are walking out of theaters calling it “razor sharp, at times funny & hopelessly romantic” and gushing about “the way Celine Song captivates her directing and writing.” There’s something about this movie that just clicks with audiences in a way that maybe the professional critics aren’t fully getting.
I’ve seen it compared to “Sex and the City directed by Eric Rohmer,” which is honestly such a perfect description I wish I’d thought of it first. It’s got that glossy, stylish vibe but with way more philosophical depth than you’d expect from your average romantic drama.
Song Knows Exactly What She’s DoingLook, we all know dating in 2025 is a nightmare. We’re all swiping through apps like we’re shopping for groceries, constantly wondering if someone better is just one profile away. Song gets this, and she really
The movie doesn’t try to give you some neat little bow-wrapped answer about what love should be. Thank god, because honestly? We’ve all seen enough movies that try to solve our relationship problems in 90 minutes. Instead, Song just asks us to think about what we actually want. Do we want the security? The excitement? The person who looks good on paper or the one who makes us laugh until we cry?
Romance movies have been kind of… well, let’s just say they haven’t been great lately. Everything’s either a superhero movie or some franchise thing, and the few romantic films we do get usually end up buried on streaming platforms where nobody talks about them.
But here’s the thing about Materialists, it feels like a film that actually gets us. Song isn’t trying to make some fantasy where everything works out perfectly. She’s made a movie that’s pretty to look at (seriously, the three leads are ridiculously attractive) but also smart enough to make you think about your own dating disasters.
It’s like she figured out how to make a movie that works whether you just want to watch beautiful people be beautiful together or you want something that’ll make you text your friends afterward like “okay but what would YOU have done?” And honestly? That’s exactly what we need more of.
With Materialists, Song’s basically proving that romance movies don’t need to be dumb or cheesy to work. They just need someone who actually understands what it’s like to be young and confused and trying to figure out love in a world that makes it way more complicated than it needs to be.