Having seen multitudes of TikToks rejecting this movie due to its “broke white boy propaganda” and Dakota Johnson’s “GCSE Drama” monotone acting, I had no intention of watching Materialists (I actually had no intention in the first place anyway, but I will use that as an excuse). However, I was proven entirely wrong after watching, as it fulfilled my film desires of watching another film that celebrates the different types of love in our world.
Starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal, the film explores New York matchmaker Lucy’s own quest for love, as she has to decide between her flawed actor ex-boyfriend, John, and what seems to be the perfect match for her, Harry. While Lucy continuously sees dating and marriage as a “business deal” and that it has “always been, since the very first time two people did it”, the two men try to change her mind by showing the different ways of their love.
I fully adored how the film was shot, from its use of lighting to the close-ups of the sensual touches shared between the couples (as expected from the spectacular Celine Song!). However, I did not particularly like the consistent theme of monotonous colour-grading throughout the film, as it somewhat feeds into the trend in which films seem to be losing their colours nowadays. Despite this, when compared to the scenes in which Lucy is amongst the comforts of John and/or Harry, the warm lighting then immediately showed me her true feelings toward the two different men.
At certain points, I had genuinely felt the urge to tear up at the sight of the caveman couple, as we see the interconnectedness between modern-day love and how love would have been expressed in the early ages. The simplistic beauty of the early couple gifting each other flowers, trading food, and the swapping of flower-rings as a signification of their marriage.
To conclude, no matter what anyone says, Materialists is indeed the romantic comedy that Celine Song claims it is —but it is also something so much more than that. A rom-com that explores the complicated sides of love from different angles, the materialism behind choosing a love-for-life, and how love actually is all around (oops… wrong movie!).
“59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Dakota Johnson 02” by Jan Beránek is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.