In order to even just survive in a competitive environment like New York City, one needs to be extremely careful and program his\/her sentimental life – especially those relationships which could lead to marriage – thinking about a series of factors way more important than what we call love. Or at least this is how Lucy (<\/span>Dakota Johnson<\/b><\/a>) thinks and lives: she works as a matchmaker for a prestigious society, treating with absolute respect and human empathy her clients, trying to find them the man they would want to spend the rest of their life with. Before accepting the courtship of the rich and charming \u201cunicorn\u201d Henry (<\/span>Pedro Pascal<\/b><\/a>), she analyzes all the possible reasons this relationship could or could not work. Everything in the end seems to be perfect, unlike the previous relationship Lucy had with John (<\/span>Chris Evans<\/b><\/a>), a wanna-be actor that at almost forty years of age is still basically broke and shares a dirty apartment with two other roommates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/ins>\n Scene after scene, <\/span>Materialists<\/b> is carried by a screenplay that carefully develops the dry, focused commitment of the main character, creating an atmosphere and most important a character that is so brutally realistic about her life (and living in New York) that is almost cynical. And still, what the viewers hear from Lucy\u2019s mouth is not a bitter vision of the world, but actually how things really work nowadays.<\/span><\/p>\n @Courtesy of A24<\/p>\n T<\/span>his means that <\/span>Celine Song<\/b> had very clearly in her mind what he wanted to talk about with her second movie and knew exactly how to do it. The Materialists is so true when it\u2019s about depicting the issues of modern relationships that it becomes strangely less effective when romanticism enters in this love triangle. Another big point in favor of Celine Song as a director is the remarkable choices in the casting: <\/span>Dakota Johnson<\/b> is highly effective in Lucy\u2019s role, her acting style is detached, distant, straight to the point. <\/span><\/p>\n This is so far the best performance of her career, a classic example of when the character fits perfectly the actor\u2019s skills. Same thing for <\/span>Pedro Pascal<\/b>, whose natural elegance and tenderness elevate Henry\u2019s role. Even <\/span>Chris Evans<\/b>, who clearly has a more limited range of skills compared to the other two protagonists, isn\u2019t that bad portraying John.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you loved <\/span>Past Lives<\/b>, better to warn you that The Materialist is quite the opposite: where the movie with <\/span>Greta Lee <\/b>and <\/span>John Magaro<\/b> developed a tone and some atmospheres that were able to explain the inner life and struggles of the characters, in<\/span>\u00a0Materialists<\/b> everything is on the plate, spelled out, analyzed down to the minutia.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/ins>\n This doesn\u2019t perhaps make the movie too easy to enjoy, but it definitely shows the skills of <\/span>Celine Song<\/b>, particularly as a screenwriter. The link between <\/span>Past Lives<\/b> and<\/span>\u00a0Materialists<\/b> is in fact the accuracy of the microcosm in which her characters live, struggle, and confront each other about topics and issues that are absolutely important in our contemporary world. Whether we like it or not, Celine Song is showing us who we are and which is the time we live in\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n @Courtesy of A24<\/p>\n Rate: B-<\/b><\/p>\n If you liked the review, share your thoughts below.<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n![\"Materialists\"](\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Materialists2.png\")
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