Materialists Movie Review: Chris Evans and Dakota Johnson shine in a quiet, poignant tale of love and self-worth

Materialists review

'Materialists’ isn’t your average love story—and that’s exactly why it works. Set in the ever-vibrant New York, the film draws you into its world slowly, almost like a memory you’re revisiting rather than a plot you’re following.

There’s something incredibly lived-in about the way it unfolds—conversations that feel overheard rather than written, characters who are flawed but familiar. It starts off feeling like a love triangle, but Celine Song is after something far more nuanced.

This is a story about the things we carry into relationships—our ambitions, insecurities, class baggage, and the ever-present question of what we truly value in a partner. ‘Materialists’ doesn’t shout its themes; it simply lets them breathe.

Love class and complication

The story follows Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a successful matchmaker working at a top-tier firm that helps people find love. Lucy is good at her job—maybe too good. She’s trained herself to spot chemistry between people not just through glances and banter, but through net worth, status, and “compatibility metrics.”

During a wedding event, she meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy and thoughtful private equity manager whose brother she’d helped match. Their connection is instant but complicated—Lucy can’t help but remind him, and herself, that she doesn’t belong in his world.

Then John (Chris Evans), Lucy’s ex and a struggling actor still stuck in the same place she left him years ago, reappears. When a client of Lucy’s firm suffers a violent incident on a date, it jolts Lucy’s carefully assembled life, making her question whether her job—and her life—actually helps people or simply package them.

Lead actors deliver grounded performances

The performances here are quietly powerful. Dakota Johnson delivers one of her most grounded roles yet—no overdone emotion, no overly stylised quirks. Just a woman trying to make sense of what she wants versus what she’s allowed to want.

Pedro Pascal is perfectly charming, even if his character feels a bit like a placeholder for a “good rich guy.” It’s Chris Evans, though, who gives the film its emotional center. His John isn’t bitter or angry—just tired.

There’s a sadness to him, a kind of internal resignation that Evans plays without theatrics. You find yourself rooting for him, even if you know he’s not the answer either. Their triangle isn’t about choosing between two men; it’s about Lucy figuring out what kind of life she wants to live.

Romance in the age of resumes

What sets ‘Materialists’ apart is how sharply it cuts into the idea of romance in a world increasingly shaped by resumes and checklists. The film doesn’t wag a finger at materialism, but it does ask: what happens when our emotional choices are filtered through our financial ones? Lucy lives in a world where love is quantified, sorted, and sold.

But what happens when her own heart refuses to be filed so neatly? There’s a brilliant moment when Harry tells her he’s looking for “intangible assets”—a line that could’ve been a corny pickup line, but here lands like a quiet truth. Song makes it clear that she isn’t anti-wealth or anti-success—she just wants to remind us that not everything valuable comes with a price tag.

A quiet, honest ending

The final stretch of the film is understated but deeply affecting. Song doesn’t give us a big, romantic payoff. There’s no chase through the airport, no last-minute declarations. Instead, the story lands with a kind of emotional honesty that feels just right. Surely, Lucy ends up with one, but with a better understanding of herself—and that’s the film’s quiet triumph.

‘Materialists’ is a film that doesn’t dazzle with drama but with insight. It lingers because it feels true. After ‘Past Lives,’ Celine Song proves once again that she’s a filmmaker who understands that the most moving stories are often the ones that dare to stay still.

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Winters, and Chris Evans

Director: Celine Song

Rating: 3.5/5

(‘Materialists’ is playing in theatres)