Materialists

Three lovely, skilled actors together in a romantic comedy? Yes please. Dakota Johnson plays a high-class matchmaker who finds herself torn between a client played by Pedro Pascal and an ex played by Chris Evans. There are no bad choices here, and so we get a few romcom tropes, alongside some really interesting questions about what someone needs to be in love and what it means to find the right person. It’s another of those now-all-too-rare rare romcoms that sizzles on language and wit, not just pretty people getting involved in misunderstandings that would be easy to resolve if they just talked to each other.

“The amount of big swings and sheer talent on display here as [Celine Song] tries to chart the intersection between a coup de coeur and capitalism is still enough to make you swoon.” -David Fear, Rolling Stone
“Materialists is a romantic film for pragmatists, a pragmatic film for romantics. Opposites attract, and it’s a perfect match.” Karl Quinn, Sydney Morning Herald
“It’s tempting to say that Song went a more traditional route, but her second film is in fact a bold reshaping of the romcom.” -Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
“Though Materialists nods at a few rom-com conventions, it’s ultimately a gentle exploration of what we think we want from love, and how those things can change when the right person arrives.” -Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
“If you’re seeing it with hopes of glittery escapism, be prepared that the result is a little sadder, a little more substantial. And that’s much of what’s so wonderful about it.” -Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com
“A seductive, smartly refreshed addition to an impossibly, perhaps irredeemably old-fashioned genre that was once a Hollywood staple.” -Manohla Dargis, New York Times
“Sparkling, smart and sophisticated — finally, a rom-com for intelligent adults.” -Rafer Guzman, Newsday
“Materialists is exquisitely made, character-driven and talky, with some glittering dialogue. It’s the kind of idiosyncratic film a director sometimes gets to do after a great success and Song makes the most of it.” -Caryn James, BBC.com
“A refreshingly complex look at modern love, self-worth and the challenges of finding a partner in an unaffordable city, which once again treats three points of a romantic triangle with equal integrity and compassion.” -David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
“A smart rom-com that tries to be honest about life and still leave us smiling — that math seems to add up just fine.” -Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press

Materialists opens at The Clyde on Friday, June 27, and plays Friday, Saturday, Sunday, & Monday at 7:30.