“Materialists,” the sophomore film by writer-director Celine Song, proves that the filmmakers debut effort, the Oscar-nominated, critical darling “Past Lives,” was no fluke. Song crafts a romantic-comedy (though audiences should know the material is much more dramatic than comedic) that is thought-provoking, thoroughly modern, and utterly gorgeous. Breathtaking cinematography and stylistic production design ensure each frame contains more than one visual delight for audiences to marvel at, in addition to a heaping amount of beautiful costumes, charming locations and a cast that are as stunning as they are engaging.
Stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal are at their best in “Materialists,” a welcome relief for the Johnson and Evans. String of flops aside, the pair prove that gripping source material is all an actor needs to reach down and pull out what is sure to be remembered as one of the best performances of their career. Johnson especially has never seemed more at ease in a role. As for Pascal, the actor has never been more suave or endearing. Heartbreakingly charming, it would be a crime to not immediately cast him in more rom-coms. All the actors deliver the goods but it was occasionally hard to enjoy watching them when the characters are making such questionable choices, often not acting or sounding anything remotely like a real person.
“Materialists” is sure to be enjoyed by anyone who craves a good story all about the beauty of love and the challenges we all have to overcome to find it. However, let it be known that there are stretches of the movie that can come off as a bit repetitive, with constant cold conversations of stats, math, and investments dominating the runtime. There were so many metaphors and ruminations on what attracts us to each other that there were times when this movie felt like a much longer, much less fun, episode of “Sex and the City.” One that would have been finance-themed and seen Carrie dating a stockbroker. As well, the simple ideology of “expensive automatically = bad” and “cheap automatically = good” is confusing as a guiding light, especially given the information the movie gives us about the main characters.
Criticism aside, “Materialists” is undoubtedly a success and fans of Song’s work are sure to have a new favourite movie on their hands. It may be a tough sell for the average movie-goer considering how predictable and lifeless it is in constant danger of feeling, however. “Materialists” strives to prove that it’s worth investing in someone’s intangible qualities and perhaps that is what audiences will need to do with this movie. Look past the seductive visuals and decide if the heart of this movie is enough to make you fall in love with it.