Celine Song Reinvents the Rom-Com With ‘Materialists'—Here's How to Watch
Director Celine Song returns with her highly anticipated sophomore feature, Materialists, a sharp, modern take on romance rooted in New York City's elite dating scene. Following her Oscar-nominated debut with Past Lives, Song shifts from quiet longing to a more incisive, but equally intimate, look at how the search for true love intersects with money and class.
The film stars Dakota Johnson as Lucy, a professional matchmaker whose career revolves around helping others find love based on compatibility metrics—sometimes as straightforward as income, age, and status. But when her personal life collides with her work, Lucy finds herself at the center of her own complicated love triangle, torn between Harry (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy private equity client who seems to check every box, and John (Chris Evans), her struggling actor ex who still knows her in a way few others do.
While Materialists carries the breezy energy of a classic rom-com, Song layers the story with a deeper examination of the transactional facets of modern dating. As she explained to ELLE, her time spent working as a real-life matchmaker while building her playwriting career exposed her to the unsettling ways people sometimes quantify love.
'While I was a matchmaker, I was asking my clients to describe their ideal partner and the answers were all numbers: height, weight, income, age… While I understood why they were asking for those things, I knew from being in love myself that that's just not at all what love is about or feels like. So [making this] movie was about [striking] the balance between the practical and the fantasy of true love,' she said.
For Johnson, Lucy's internal conflict lies at the heart of the film. 'She's at a very interesting time in her life where she's sort of teetering between two worlds,' Johnson told Entertainment Weekly. 'Allowing yourself to be loved is scary, and really loving another person is scary. It's a story of bravery.'
Though the film nods to the feel of '90s romantic comedies, Song is clear that Materialists isn't simply a lighthearted love triangle. 'I would actually be more interested in it being talked about as a story of Lucy as she navigates not just the love and dating world in her clients' lives, but also her own personal reality and beliefs about love,' she added.
One of the film's most memorable moments comes early on, when Lucy casually orders a 'Coke and beer' at a wedding—a strange combination that, as Song explained to GQ, reveals much about her character's working-class roots and serves as a quiet signal of her history with John, who knows her well enough to bring her the drink without asking. 'It speaks to Lucy's character, about her background, and where she comes from,' Song said. 'It's meant to be a weird thing—which is why it's so special that John knows her drink order.'
Materialists opens in theaters on June 13. While A24 has not yet confirmed an exact streaming release date, the film is expected to eventually land on HBO Max, as part of A24's ongoing streaming partnership with Warner Bros. Previous A24 titles like Priscilla and Babygirl have followed a similar release pattern.
For now, the film is exclusively available in theaters.
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One of the year's best spy thriller movies is finally streaming — and it's perfect for ‘Jason Bourne' fans
I feel like 2025 has been a pretty great year for spy movies. We got the seriously excellent 'Black Bag' in March, and the popcorn thrills of 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' are still delighting audiences in the theatre. But good things often come in threes, and this is no exception. 'The Amateur,' a gripping little action-thriller which arrived in cinemas back in April, perhaps didn't get the love it deserves. The critical reception was mixed, but I'm here to argue its merits now that it's finally arrived on premium video-on-demand via platforms including Apple and Amazon. Starring 'Mr. Robot' lead and Oscar-winner Rami Malek, it's an engaging spy flick very much in the mold of the 'Jason Bourne' franchise. However, don't worry: It's a cut above Bourne's most recent secret agent efforts. Plus, it includes one of my favourite action scenes of the year — though sadly, it was completely spoiled in the various trailers, so preview watcher beware! 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Charlie quickly realizes he can't outmuscle his enemies, or outgun them, but he can outmanoeuvre them. This leads to several thrilling sequences when you think Charlie has been backed into a corner, only for him to reveal he was pulling the puppet strings all along. While the overarching international conspiracy plot does require viewers to suspend their disbelief quite often, the gritty and grounded tone reminds me of the 'Jason Bourne' franchise more than the slightly cheesy suave spy escapade you might find in the 'James Bond' movies. As somebody who's always preferred the former (yes, even as a Brit), that's a win in my books. 'The Amateur' was no flop with critics, but it wasn't a darling either. It currently holds a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes, enough for a fresh rating, but only just. The site's 'Critics Consensus' reads, 'Rami Malek is a compellingly unconventional action hero in the otherwise formulaic The Amateur, which dispenses justice with solid execution but a curious lack of emotional stakes. However, chalk this one up as another case where viewers were impressed than the critics. 'The Amateur' holds an 88% score on the RT Popcornmeter. Some of the user's recent reviews describe it as 'perfect,' 'thrilling' and 'entertaining'. I certainly wouldn't go as far as to label it flawless, but I certainly agree with the latter two statements. If you enjoy a good spy movie or just can't get enough of action-thrillers (which seem to be all the rage in the streaming world these days), consider giving 'The Amateur' a watch. With a strong leading performance from Malek and some highly suspenseful scenes, it's pretty darn gripping. Not totally sold on "The Amateur"? Here's a roundup of all the top new movies arriving on streaming this week, which offers plenty of extra choices with flicks to suit every mood and taste in cinema.
