#REVIEW: “MATERIALISTS”

By Mr. Will Wong

Academy Award nominee Celine Song has done it again.  Her latest effort MATERIALISTS, in which she produces, writes and directs, is perhaps my favourite film thus far of 2025.  Following up with the deeply-affecting PAST LIVES is no easy feat, but she has nailed it.

Those expecting the Film to be like PAST LIVES however, wouldn’t be off in assuming so. Once again, we find caught in the middle of a love triangle, with two men who possess very desirable traits, and a woman pulled both ways. But that’s maybe where the comparisons end.  We meet Lucy (Dakota Johnson) who works for a matching making service called ADORE and she is quite good at her job. After successfully pairing one of her clients and seeing her get married, she meets the very handsome, wealthy and eligible brother of the groom Harry (Pedro Pascal), who works in private equity and is what is known in the matchmaking industry as a “unicorn”.  Working the event also however, is her aspiring actor/sometimes server ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans).  Lucy is pursued by Harry who has it all, but also the flames just might get rekindled as well at once with John. From here, we reach a turning point where an incident occurs with one of Lucy‘s clients, making her re-evaluate her career, and also how she feels about both Harry and John. What and who will she choose?

When asked what being a matchmaker is like, Lucy tells Harry it’s very similar to working at a morgue or being an insurance broker. It’s statistics, traits and people being placed in groupings which determine their worth and value.  And that is a very harsh reality of dating and finding a partner to this day which Song isn’t afraid to call out, but she also questions it.  Song‘s signature way of framing a scene has us sitting-in on an intimate conversation from a wider frame. The camera comes in closer, little by little, on its subjects the deeper the conversation gets.  The same can be said about how the frame closes-in on Lucy the further along we get in the story, as she realizes the things she looks for in pairing her clients, might not necessarily mean a thing without love. Song shifts from humorous to some of the Film’s more weighty subject matter seamlessly, making this such an affecting journey that speaks to the heart, but some little lightness to it.

Johnson in my books can do no wrong and MATERIALISTS fully showcases her range and ability as a master of her craft. Song‘s characters speak at speech-level and hushed tones, and Johnson is pitch-perfect here understatedly drawing us into Lucy‘s conflicts and struggles.  Evans draws us in right away the moment he appears, giving us years of history between John and Lucy without even saying anything.  This is career-best work for him which often we overlook with his very prolific catalog. And of course, Pascal as Harry is a delight being his appealing self, peeling some layers off him as we enter the final act.

Celine Song hits all the right notes emotionally with MATERALISTS, a near-perfect film.  VVS Films release MATERIALISTS Friday, June 13, 2025.