REEL | Dakota Johnson Makes A Match – 'Materialists'

"Six inches can double a man's value on the market."

A24 / VVS Films

Dakota Johnson stars as a successful but defiantly single Manhattan matchmaker entangled in a New Yorker love triangle in Canadian writer/director Celine Song's sophomore film, the deceptively sophisticated throwback romantic drama, Materialists. Co-starring Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal as her dual love interests for a refreshingly traditional love rom-com-type setup, Song explores the nature of modern romantic love and its deeper complications through the landscape of the perilous contemporary dating scene.

There's a bold feel to the classical romantic elements that manifest in a Materialists as Song uses matchmaking as a metaphor for economic market investment valuations by breaking down potential suitors by their age, physical attractiveness, height, fitness level, hairline, personality, interests, etc., in a shockingly dispassionate manner. It's hilarious how straightforward Johnson's ultra-pragmatic Lucy is when describing anyone's potential suitability for marriage, including herself, as a completely transactional process based on economic realities.

These themes are amusingly explored through the common feelings of loneliness and self-loathing that many otherwise successful single people feel in a metropolitan setting like New York City. Actress Zoë Winters, in particular, as a desperate but appealing woman nearing forty looking for love who is perfectly fine in every aspect but does not stand out in any, is a fine encapsulation of a kind of unfortunate, unaccounted-for market deficiency in the dating pool.

Pascal is used sparingly but perfectly as the supposed ideal match (a "unicorn" who is rich, handsome, cultured, etc.) on paper, in stark contrast to Evans as Lucy's ex, a struggling theatre actor turned perpetually broke cater waiter, while Song balances her two films in one. Some of the choice lines about the unrealistic frankness of deluded singles trying to find their non-existent perfect match are hysterical, as the darker realities about dating as a vulnerable single woman in the city make Materialists more than just a typical romance.

Song's sharp writing and keen eye for composition in her directing style make Materialists a pleasing experience for both people who enjoy typical, disposable romantic comedies of the '90s heyday and those who prefer more incisive relationship dramas about deeply flawed people. It's a highly skilled, impressive second effort that deftly questions the dual nature of romance. Her film both takes down and exemplifies clear examples of our ideals of traditional notions of romantic love regarding choosing qualities you think you want and desire or to be truly seen and loved by a partner regardless of their attributes.


More | YVArcade / IGN / Indiewire