We are Living in a Material World

Materialists is, on the surface, a romantic drama-comedy about a New York matchmaker who faces a choice in her own love life. It has something more on its mind though, presenting a forensic examination of modern adult relationships and the incompatibility of expectation and genuine feeling.

Dakota Johnson is Lucy, a specialist in matching together "elite" couples. For elite, read some of the worst people on Earth. Men who demand their partners have knockout bodies, adhere to strict weight limits and the younger the better. Women who will only consider the tall, rich and in one case, white. In Lucy's world marriage is a business deal and the ultimate match is the one who checks the most boxes. As a "voluntary celibate", she carries this philosophy into here every day life and has no interest in dating until she can find the rich man who will make husband material. The love cynic is a classic trope for the lead in a movie with this set up but there is much more going on with romantic at heart Lucy and its great to see the ever dependable, but often stuck with slop, Johnson sink her teeth into a role worthy of her talents. A horrible work situation tests her belief in numbers and boxes to provide even safe, never mind ideal, dating scenarios and she finds herself pulled between her ideal paper match, suave millionaire Pedro Pascal, and the only person she has ever had genuine feelings for, her broke theatre actor ex, Chris Evans. As her story unfolds there is no one moment of clarity or personality 180 that characterise lesser romantic fare, more a slow realisation of the person she has always been.

Pascal appears in roughly his two thousandth film of the year but there is a reason he is so in demand. Handsome and with bags of understated charisma, his high rolling financier is a perfect Prince Charming without being a caricature. He buys into the asset side of relationships but looks for the intangible qualities of a partner and is much more human than the other suitors in Lucy's orbit. Evans has the least textured character to explore but makes it work, portraying the feelings first element of a relationship and making the case for love as a need rather than a commodity. You could argue that he looks a bit too put together for a struggling dreamer living in chaos but come on, he has to be viable competition for the dating "unicorn".

While the sheer gall of some of the dating agency clients is amusing, the film shies away from outright laughs, which makes sense given the dark turn at a certain point in proceedings. The tone is still kept breezy and hopeful, quite a feat considering the bleak view of a dating world full of judgemental and insecure professionals who will do anything to maximise their perceived value and are more about one upping friends and family than finding a genuine connection.

It's pretty clear from early on how the story is likely to end but the way it gets there feels natural and earned. It's also incredibly well observed, with writer/director Celine Song showing, as she did in previous film "Past Lives", that she has a real understanding of peoples internal thoughts and wants. Formulaic in some ways but packed with smart observations, Materialists is an understated and compelling watch.

8 leg elongations out of 10.

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