Materialists

My wife and I watched The Materialist (2025) in theaters last night. The story follows a matchmaker in New York who's helped countless others find love-but hasn't quite found it for herself. Or maybe she has, but the strict conditions she places on relationships may have kept her from realizing it. When she meets a man who seems to check every box, she's forced to ask herself: is she about to make a mistake, and is true love more important than her carefully curated criteria?

The film is written and directed by Celine Song (Past Lives) and stars Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey), Chris Evans (Captain America), Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones), Zoe Winters (Succession), and Marin Ireland (Homeland).

From the opening scene, it's clear the film is pushing a familiar message and the storyline is highly predictable-you'll likely see every plot turn coming. That said, it does offer some thoughtful reflections on successful men's outlook on dating, the difficulties older women encounter in dating, and the universal longing for companionship. It also explores how rigid expectations in relationships can sometimes become barriers to genuine happiness.

In conclusion, The Materialist presents some fun situations and sincere themes, but ultimately feels a bit contrived. I'd give it a 6.5/10 and recommend it only with the appropriate expectations.

Let me preface by saying that my wife was a matchmaker for over 2 years in L. A. She lived the life of walking around asking people "hey are you single?" So naturally, she and I were excited to see this movie. While there were a few nods to the common (and hilariously ridiculous) issues that matchmakers deal with and some all-too-relatable moments for my wife, we were ultimately very disappointed.

1) I'll avoid spoilers, but essentially the messages sent by this movie to all the single people out there are depressing and incredibly shallow.

2) For a movie called "Materialists" that makes references to money consistently throughout, there was a shocking lack of eye candy in the film. Dinner scenes showed no food. Fancy homes were decorated by a beige monster. Not even travel porn.

3) I'm a fan of Dakota in general, but wow this is a stale performance. She's monotone and lacks any chemistry with the main characters. They interact as if she has a restraining order against them in real life but already signed up to do the movie together.

4) Everything. Is. So. Slow. The character's speak at a snail's pace. They also don't have conversations. Instead, they take turns reciting long monologues to each other. Scenes are drawn out in order to create drama and the soundtrack must just be a Pandora station called "Melodramatic Elevator Music." For a movie that centers around human connection, the main characters interacted like they were written by AI.

The marketing/pr for the film made it seem like this was going to be light, airy, and more of a rom-com. Sadly, that was not the case.

Verdict: Don't Watch.

I think that the movie was overhyped. It felt like there was just something missing and maybe because I watch a lot of series and get to enjoy the progression of characters overtime. That's why I felt like there was something missing. I think that the actors were great and maybe during the storyline there was way too much focus on her job aspect and there could've been just a little bit more of her personal life being expressed on screen. I honestly think the trailer was probably better than the movie and I found myself getting a little bit bored at times. I think that this was a great trio, but I don't know if that this was the perfect movie for them.

Dakota Johnson is at her best as a matchmaker in Manhattan at the height of her success, but whose own love life is impoverished and full of regrets. Then out of nowhere, she chances to meet a "unicorn" bachelor, a charming, wealthy, educated, handsome (and most importantly tall enough) gentleman (Pedro Pascal, infinitely charismatic) who is in the prime of his career at one of the weddings that her hard work made possible. Their romance seems like a sure thing, but one more fly in the ointment is her old flame (Chris Evans, in a show-stopping performance) resurfacing and bringing back old memories and complications.

The three principals are at the top of their game in this charming but layered film that doesn't quite fit the bill of an archetypal romantic comedy. A darker, more hard-hitting subplot adds some degree of unpredictability. A beguiling soundtrack adds a feeling of wonder. While there were moments when I wished the film could have been bolder, it still delivered and drove home the point about how extremely difficult the dating world in New York can be for men and women alike. You have the enormous pool of dating prospects, the mercurial expectations, a touch of unhappiness and the specter of hope in the distance. That's my way of saying I enjoyed this film very much. Gladly recommended.

I was disappointed in this one. It had its moments, but not enough to warrant a more than an average rating. Dakota Fanning's delivery of dialogue has always been so monotone to me however, I have to say I like this role better than some of her others. She actually seemed to care at a few moments during this movie. The exposure of horrible things that could come from using a dating service was good details. Not in a warm fuzzy kind of way, but it's an unfortunate reality. The shallowness of people when they're looking for the perfect mate was very believable. Disappointing but believable. To me the ending was very predictable.