Quick Facts at a Glance.
Title: Materialists (2025).
Director & Writer: Celine Song (Past Lives, 2023).
Genre / Niche: Romantic dramedy and social satire—an emotionally textured, contemporary rom-com that interrogates love, capitalism, and self-worth—set in New York City’s luxury-dating world .
Runtime: ~1 h 56 min (116 minutes) .
Rating: R (due to thematic depth and mature content).
Main Cast of Materialists.
The film features a concise but potent ensemble:
- Dakota Johnson – Lucy, the ambitious Manhattan matchmaker at the heart of the story
- Chris Evans – John, Lucy’s ex-boyfriend, a struggling actor
- Pedro Pascal – Harry, a charming millionaire suitor
- Marin Ireland – Supporting role (client or colleague)
The core narrative revolves around these three leads—Lucy caught in the emotional tension between her ex and a wealthy new match. The film’s power lies in its intimate focus: there are essentially three principal cast members, even though a few supporting characters enrich the arcs. (/IMDb and full credits list more names, but core on-screen focus remains with Lucy, John, and Harry.)
Who Is the “Means Character of Materialists”?
Lucy, portrayed by Dakota Johnson, is undeniably the central figure—her emotional journey, professional identity crisis, and moral reckonings drive the narrative. The story pivots on her decisions: will she choose security or love, societal expectations or authentic connection? The two men orbiting her—John and Harry—are vital to her arc, but Lucy is the lens through which the film examines modern romance and self-worth.
Box-Office (“How Means Box Collection?”)
Here’s how Materialists performed in theaters:
Domestic (U.S. & Canada)
- Opening Weekend: $11.34 million across 2,844 theaters, debuting third behind How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch .
- Total Domestic Gross: Approximately $36.5 million.
International & Worldwide
- International Gross: Between $38.8 million and $56.1 million, depending on the reporting source .
- Worldwide Total: Roughly $92.6 million.
Budget Context
- The film reportedly had a production budget around $20 million making its box office haul about 4–4.6× its cost—strong for A24’s rom-com model.
- It achieved one of A24’s top three opening weekends ever, following Civil War and Hereditary.
Streaming & Availability
- After its theatrical run, Materialists became available for streaming via digital purchase/rent (e.g., Prime Video ~$20–25) starting July 22, and will see further availability across platforms
Deep Dive of Materialists.
1. Premise & Setup
Materialists unfolds in contemporary New York. Lucy is an elite matchmaker who expertly pairs clients based on socioeconomic lists—income, height, hairline. Love is transactional in Lucy’s world. Her personal philosophy is shattered when she meets Harry, a millionaire ticking all the traditional boxes. Simultaneously, her ex John—a struggling actor—reappears, stirring a long-buried emotional current. Lucy confronts a reckoning: can love exist outside capitalism’s invisible metrics?
The film explores these choices through a satirical yet tender lens, flirting with screwball comedy mechanics but grounding itself in realism. There’s a jarring subplot involving a client’s assault—Lucy’s attempt to apologize forces her to reflect on emotional labor, responsibility, and the exploitation embedded in her line of work. It adds necessary weight to what could otherwise feel glossy.
2. Tone & Style
Celine Song has penned a film that looks like a gorgeous HBO rom-com but feels grounded in Jane Austen’s thematic stakes. The tone is sharp, often wry, threading heartbreak and humor with social critique. The film doesn’t promise endless escapism—it’s beautiful, stylish, and emotionally honest. There’s melancholy beneath the sparkle.
Visually, the cinematography (by Shabier Kirchner) captures a wistful New York—electric nights, dreamy yard lights during the road-trip segment. Daniel Pemberton’s score supports mood shifts: playful in the city’s early scenes, and quietly suspenseful as emotional stakes rise.
3. Performances
- Dakota Johnson embodies Lucy with sharpness and vulnerability—her exterior confidence cracks in revealing ways, especially during introspective and romantic moments (like the stoop kiss that plays like an homage to Nora Ephron classics but tears at genre familiarity).
- Chris Evans, as John, delivers understated depth: this isn’t Captain America charmingness, but a tender, regret-laced performance. His chemistry with Johnson was praised as one of his best in recent years.
- Pedro Pascal, as Harry, smolders with quiet wealth—a luxurious alternative that tests Lucy’s values, but never defines her choice in a reductive way.
- Marin Ireland gives a standout supporting turn as a client who faces trauma, forcing Lucy into bracing ethical territory that strengthens the story’s emotional impact.
4. Themes & Social Commentary
At its core, the film interrogates capitalism’s colonization of love. Lucy asks: is love even something you can buy or calculate? Celine Song pushes back against narratives that suggest people are morally judged by their wealth. In interviews, Song challenged critiques framing the film as “broke man propaganda,” emphasizing that the film critiques capitalism—not poor people—and underscores the cultural prejudice that equates poverty with personal failure.
The film also critiques modern dating hierarchies—BMI requirements, ageism, superficial negotiations of self-worth. A genre-rom-com at its surface, it quietly—but sharply—deconstructs the power imbalances and transactional nature of romance today.
5. Reception & Critic Response
Rotten Tomatoes:
- Critic score: 79% Tomatometer
- Audience score: 66% (Popcornmeter).
Critics generally praised the film for weighty performances, stylish tone, and emotional ambition. RogerEbert.com described it as “sharp, spiky, brutally honest and bracingly contemporary,” but warned viewers expecting fluff may be surprised—this is more soulful than sparkle.
Genre Context:
Marie Claire flagged Materialists as part of a new wave of rom-coms—sardonic, realist, socio-politically aware—that lean into emotional fragility as much as romantic fantasy. It offers hopeful tenderness amid cynicism and surfaces a new identity for modern romance films.
Criticism came when some audiences labeled it “broke man propaganda”—a lens Song strongly rebuked, reiterating the film targets capitalist constructs, not individuals who are poorer.
6. Box Office vs. Ambition
Financially, Materialists performed well for A24 and adult rom-coms:
- A strong $11M opening weekend, ranking as A24’s third-best behind Civil War and Hereditary .
- Worldwide gross near $92.6M, on a modest budget (~$20M), means solid profitability and momentum for A24’s adult-centric slate. .
As theaters face genre fatigue, this sort of smart, slightly cynical rom-com demonstrates there’s still commercial and cultural space for romance with substance..
7. Cultural Impact & Legacy
Materialists continues Celine Song’s trajectory towards emotionally intelligent cultural storytelling, following Past Lives’ breakout success. It enriches rom-com genre expectations by blending realism, emotional opacity, and aesthetic polish. Its cultural footprint lies in its willingness to center a flawed heroine confronting social voyeurism, capitalism’s emotional residue, and the pressures of worthiness.
Though not a runaway smash, film Twitter and early reviews called it “achingly beautiful,” indicating deep emotional resonance among many.
Summary Table of Materialists.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Principal Cast | 3 leads: Dakota Johnson (Lucy), Chris Evans (John), Pedro Pascal (Harry); plus Marin Ireland – core focus on three-person emotional dynamic. |
| Main Character | Lucy (Dakota Johnson) |
| Box Office | Domestic: ~$36.5 M; International: ~$38.8 M–$56.1 M; Worldwide: ~$92.6 M; strong opening for A24 . |
| Niche | Contemporary rom-com with satire and social commentary; subverts genre with emotional and thematic clarity |
| Critical Reception | 79% critics’ score; praised for depth and style; audience mixed (~66%) . |
| Key Themes | Capitalism and love, class dynamics, self-worth, modern dating anxieties |
| Cultural Context | Part of a new realist, incisive wave of rom-coms; contributes to genre evolution. |
Final Thoughts.
Materialists isn’t just another rom-com—it’s a thoughtful interrogation of what modern love costs when value is measured in dollars, databases, and preconceived ideals. Celine Song crafts a film that’s sharp, poignant, and stylistically arresting: a matchmaker who must discover whether love can withstand the market’s pressure—or if it must transcend it.
The performances, particularly from Johnson, Evans, and Pascal, lift what could have been moral platitudes into emotionally resonant narrative. The film earned well, particularly for its genre and scale, and sparked important conversations about capitalism, love, and representation.
If you find yourself exhausted by polished romances or cynical love satires, Materialists offers a middle path—smart, empathetic, and quietly subversive. A modern rom-com with something real to say.
