Celine Song Redefines Romance in Materialists: 'Love Is a Miracle, Even in 2025'
Normal, everyday love. In her new film, Materialists, about living and loving in 2025 New York, writer-director
Celine Song
set out to investigate that.
Celine
Song, creator of Materialists, shares her definition of "love"
Dakota Johnson
plays Lucy, a successful matchmaker in New York City, in Materialists. She meets wealthy and successful Harry (
Pedro Pascal
) while searching for prospective clients at a wedding she planned. Her less-than-ideal ex-boyfriend John (
Chris Evans
), a struggling actor who earns a living by taking on odd catering jobs, is also present.
Celine stated in an interview with PTI that it's "so cool to be in a movie about everyday love, kind of ordinary love with these three great actors."
The film's reviews have been largely positive since its theatrical release, with many praising Celine for refusing the romantic-comedy standard in favor of examining contemporary dating and relationships from a practical standpoint.
When it comes to love, Celine is a genuine romantic.
'It' really hard to believe in love, especially in 2025, right? It's very hard to believe in love over money. And it's amazing, the idea that you can get rid of all your financial troubles by just marrying right. The fantasy is so amazing,' she remarked.
The filmmaker stated that, 'But I think the greater fantasy is falling in love in a way that none of that matters. I think that's a bigger happy ending because when that happens, when love happens, it's a miracle.'
She claimed that this is the reason the word "deal" has such a romantic meaning in the context of the film.
Celine said, "I feel in another romantic film, 'deal' is not a romantic word, but in this movie called Materialists, it is a very romantic word. And the other romantic line is 'How would you like to make a very bad financial decision?' I'm like, That's not a very romantic line in other movies, but in this one, it's a very romantic line.'
Materialists comes from the director's personal space, just like Past Lives, her 2023 film about a married writer creating contact with her childhood South Korean sweetheart.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Pink Villa
an hour ago
- Pink Villa
PICS: Lee Min Ho celebrates 38th birthday with vanilla cake, bouquet and gifts from fans, wishes them happiness
Actor Lee Min Ho is celebrating his 38th birthday today, on June 22, and has received innumerable wishes from fans and brands he collaborates with. He took to his Instagram to share moments from his celebration and thank fans for the overwhelming love they bestowed upon him on his special day and throughout his acting career. His birthday was all about delicious cake, colourful decor, pretty flowers and heart melting smiles. Lee Min Ho shares 38th birthday photos The Legend of the Blue Sea fame Lee Min Ho took to his Instagram to showcase the thoughtful gifts he received from his fans. It included handmade cards, photo frame decors, beautiful flower bouquets, balloons and other goody bag-filled items. There was barely any space left in the room where he posed with the presents and with a cake in hand. The vanilla cake looked stunning, but you know what was even more gorgeous? Lee Min Ho's smile. He sported a simple black t-shirt and grey pants and looked really happy. He wrote a sweet message for his fans as he shared the pictures. The actor captioned the post as, "I am grateful for the immense love [of fans] that allows me to exist today, and I hope you are as happy as I am." Among the items in the room, his character posters from his upcoming movie, also found a place. The actor is set to star in the biggest-budget Korean movie of 2025 so far– Omniscient Reader: The Prophet. In the gripping movie, the lines between fiction and reality get blurred as the dystopian world of a novel gets to life. Lee Min Ho takes on the role of the main character of the novel, Yoo Jung Hyeok. He has the superpower of getting back to life from death. He and his fellow teammates, including characters played by Ahn Hyo Seop, BLACKPINK's Jisoo, Chae Soo Bin, Nana, and Shin Seung Ho, and child actor Kwon Eun Seong will take on monsters to save humanity. The 1-hour 56-minute movie will hit South Korean theaters on July 23, 2025.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
JCB Prize for Literature, India's priciest book award, likely makes a quiet exit
The JCB Prize for Literature , India's priciest book award, seems to have made a quiet exit without any official confirmation, causing concern among the literary community, including writers and publishers. A person close to the award told PTI on Saturday that "it has shut down". The literary prize was established in 2018 to "celebrate Indian writing, and to help readers across the world discover the very best of contemporary Indian literature ". by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Only $49—Grab This Japanese Hand Ball Before It's Gone Yukon Rewards Undo After giving the award to English writer Upamanyu Chatterjee on November 23 last year, the JCB Prize Foundation has kept quiet. Its last social media post was uploaded on Instagram on November 27, congratulating Chatterjee for winning the Rs 25 lakh prize. The award did not call for entries this year, which generally happens around the first week of March. Live Events Malayalam writer Benyamin, who won the debut award in 2018 for his book "Jasmine Days" translated into English by Shahnaz Habib, said that the news is "deeply disappointing". "...as the JCB Prize was a highly promising recognition for Indian literature -- not just Indian English writing, but also regional languages. It was a respected and influential award that played a significant role in helping Indian literature reach a global audience," the author of "Goat Days" told PTI. In its seven editions, the award has gone to translated works of fiction five times. In 2020, S Hareesh's "Moustache", translated from the Malayalam by Jayashree Kalathil, won the award. M Mukundan's "Delhi: A Soliloquy", translated from the Malayamal by Fathima E V and Nandakumar K, won the prize in 2021. The award in 2022 went to Urdu author Khalid Jawed 's "The Paradise of Food", translated by Baran Farooqui, followed by Tamil author Perumal Murugan's "Fire Bird", translated by Janani Kannan, in 2023. "This is a great loss for Indian languages . Malayalam translations have won the award three times, Tamil once, and Urdu has also been recognized. It's truly disheartening," Murugan said. The award in 2019 was given to Madhuri Vijay for "The Far Field". Author Namita Gokhale said that it is possible that they might be "reconsidering the format", while appreciating the work done by the JCB Prize. "I don't know the truth of this. Perhaps they are reconsidering the format of the prize or are looking for some other form of literary activity . But I do appreciate the excellent work that the JCB Prize for Literature has done in forefronting translations in the past," she said. Karthika VK, publisher of Westland Books, said that the prize added a "great deal to the publishing ecosystem". "I am sorry to hear that it's shutting down. We can only hope others will come along to fill the gap and sponsor prizes, grants, residencies, to support writers and translators," she said. In its run of seven years, the award courted controversy ahead of the prize announcement last year when over a hundred writers, poets and publishers came out with an open letter condemning JCB, the British bulldozer manufacturer and the organiser of the literature prize, for allegedly "uprooting" the lives of poor and marginalised in India as well as Palestine. Benyamin said that the criticism "missed the point". "...it's not the equipment that should be blamed, but those who choose to misuse it. The same machines are also used to build also. I can't align myself with that kind of reasoning, especially when the prize itself had such a positive impact. I hope they will reconsider and they will reinstate the prize for Indian literature," he said. The award followed the process of call for entry, a longlist of 10 books, a shortlist of five books and finally, a winner. Each of the shortlisted authors was awarded Rs one lakh, and if the shortlisted piece were a translation, the translator received Rs 50,000. If a translated work won the prize, the author would take home Rs 25 lakh while the translator received the prize money of Rs 10 lakh.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Love, and other bugs: Deepanjana Pal writes on Materialists
I have a deep-seated aversion to AI-generated content. Even so, watching Chris Evans deliver his heroic monologue in Materialists (2025) made me wish there was a version of Celine Song's new film in which artificial intelligence had scrubbed Evans out and replaced him with Cary Grant. Or a young Shammi Kapoor. Or Gong Yoo (of Train to Busan). Or Richard Ayoade (of The IT Crowd). PREMIUM Even Pascal's crinkly-eyed smile can't plug the gaps. Materialists isn't nearly as heart-wrenching as writer-director Celine Song's last film, Past Lives (2023). Evans is the petard on which Materialists hoists itself. He plays John, the quintessential artist: short on money, but tall in every other way. He is a man of passion and sensitivity; a man who makes love seem easy. Unfortunately, when embodied by Evans, John has all the charm of melting vanilla ice-cream. He doesn't make one want to throw caution to the wind. Instead, he makes an excellent case for warily raising one's standards. It doesn't help that Pedro Pascal plays John's counterpoint, a capitalist Prince Charming named Harry. He lives in a $12 million penthouse in New York, works at a private equity firm. But, most importantly, he has Pascal's crinkly-eyed smile and gift for turning vulnerability into a pheromone trigger. One of the loveliest moments in the film is when Harry crouches to show what he'd look like if he was half a foot shorter, becoming smaller, sadder and more insecure with every lost inch. At the apex of the love triangle is Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a matchmaker who presents herself as an emotional calculator adept at cracking the math of romantic relationships, while also mournfully declaring early on: 'I'm going to die alone.' It's a line that makes everyone laugh, both in the film and outside it, because if someone as radiant as Lucy can't find love, well, what hope is there for any of us? Yet, as Song shows us over the course of Materialists, for all her slaying and sashaying, Lucy is floundering. She keeps repeating how important it is to be practical when looking for a match, but it soon becomes clear that the person she's trying to convince, first and foremost, is herself. Through the film, long-held conventions of gender and romance do little to empower either the men or the women. Meanwhile, even for those who appear to be thriving in the materialist world, marriage appears like the equivalent of a band-aid on a gaping wound: it can't heal the injury, but it can help cover it up. Writer-director Song's boldest play in Materialists is her bid to redefine marriage as an act of romantic agency, wrenching it away from its history as an economic and social contract that commodifies women. In the film, marriage ends up being the most impractical of decisions, taken by two people because they simply can't help themselves. It marks a compromise, not with one's dreams but with societal expectations. At the end of Materialists, Lucy 'settles' for a man whose greatest commendation is that he proposes to her with a ring fashioned out of a plucked flower. The 'loser' emerges as the prize catch. Or would have, if Evans hadn't played John so blandly that everything about him felt trite. Materialists isn't as heart-wrenching as Song's 2023 hit, Past Lives (2023), but it is full of beauty and hope. Much like its key characters, it doesn't check all the boxes, but it does serve as an antidote to cynicism. Song adamantly champions the idea that love at its sweetest and most impractical is a dream worth striving for. In a world full of grief and despair, its decision to celebrate unpretentious romance feels not just refreshing but like a necessary act of defiance. (To reach Deepanjana Pal with feedback, write to @dpanjana on Instagram)
