I freaking hope so. Trailers and promos for Materialists have been all over my FYP, my TL, and my Youtube suggestions page. Will it be all it’s hyped up to be?
I have to admit, when I heard a new rom com was coming out, I rolled my eyes. Then I saw the cast and my eyes stopped mid-roll, and then I saw the director, and my eyes stopped altogether. Celine Song is best known for Past Lives, a film currently on my top 15 list (which sounds like a long list, but trust me.. it’s hard to make it on there). Similar films on that list are Waves, Minari, The Worst Person in the World, and Aftersun – you get the idea right? Celine knows what it means to have a conversation. As awkward, as ugly, as scary, as fulfilling as it needs to be. She has mastered the art of leaning into silence, and stillness, while enjoying a moment between two people. It’s not easy at all. And so often filmmakers fill that silence with music or surrounding variants. Celine allows stillness to be everything it needs to be: still. To this day, Past Lives gives an incredible performance from Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro that stick with me to this day. When someone asks what type of art I want to make – I always refer to that film.
I predict the raw, uncomfortable conversations between the characters will be the heart of the film.
So fast forward to today – two years after we were all encapsulated by that masterpiece and we have her new film: Materialists. Starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal, each of which don’t have a career that would suggest their next venture would be ‘rom-com’ territory. Especially when it seems the golden age of Rom Coms are far over. Honestly – do you think we’ll ever get a You’ve Got Mail or My Best Friend’s Wedding again? We didn’t know how good we had it in the 90s-mid 2000s. “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” “I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair” “You had me at hello” Materialists is described as “A young New York City matchmaker’s lucrative business gets complicated as she finds herself torn between the perfect match and her imperfect ex.” Seems simple right? But when you add Celine into the mix, it doesn’t seem so. New trailers detail Johnson’s character being stuck between two worlds: one she’s familiar with and loves still while the other is everything she’s dreamed of. Knowing this feeling all too well, I predict the raw, uncomfortable conversations between the characters will be the heart of the film. That’s the romance. The surrounding situations will likely be comedy.
So here are my predictions..
I think Celine’s going to have us sit with these characters, in their truths. And while the audience will be screaming, crying, and laughing, we’ll look within ourselves and see where we’ve failed. Where we’ve failed ourselves in life and in love.
I think Evan’s character will remind us of the introduction to love, the familiar feeling, and the warm embrace. How love should be comfortable, and innate.
I think Pascal’s character will show us the anxious feeling of falling in love with someone new, while reminding us how beautifully exciting it is. That love should be fun, and daring – Alexa, play Labyrinth by Taylor Swift
I think Johnson’s character will show how complex, indecisive, but most of all – how capable we are. How capable we are to step out and love again. Trust again. And know that we’ll always make the best decision for ourselves.
And lastly… I think I’m going to cry. Because if this film is everything I think it will be, then yes… Rom-coms are so back.
P.S. plot twist prediction: she doesn’t choose either of them, she chooses herself
