Trading love

Romantic comedy film Materialists is out now in theatres.

Starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, the film follows failed-actress-turned-successful-matchmaker Lucy Mason, who finds herself in a love triangle between her ex-boyfriend, John, an aspiring actor played by Chris Evans, and a charming millionaire, Harry, portrayed by Pedro Pascal.

Directed by South Korean-Canadian born filmmaker Celine Song, Materialists is her second film to be released following Past Lives (2023), which earned an Oscar nomination in 2024 for best picture and best original screenplay.

Celine, who is also the screenwriter, said she wanted to explore relationships across the class divide and what she describes as the ‘transactional nature of dating in New York’ based on her observations, as she was once a matchmaker for six months.

“I think that I learned more about people in those six months than I did in any other part of my life,” Celine said.

“I wanted to talk about the way that we’re being asked to objectify and commodify each other and ourselves, even when it comes to matters of the heart, matters of love, and I think that I was really shocked while I was working as a matchmaker by how we were talking about what we were looking for in dating.

“Dating is, of course, a game we play in search of love and love itself is an ancient mystery, a great miracle.

“It’s something entirely worth the trouble and the risk and none of these numbers are going to be able to help us get there,” she added.