What ‘The Materialists' Got Wrong (And Right) According To The Ultimate Matchmaker
Dakota Johnson's 'The Materialists' has put a spotlight on New York City matchmaking. The film follows Johnson's character, Lucy, a New York City matchmaker that goes to great lengths to please her affluent clients in trying to find them their perfect matches with near impossible criteria across looks, education, income and lifestyle. All the while Lucy finds herself in a love triangle torn between a wealthy finance man and a broke, aspiring actor. The movie's director herself was inspired to to bring this to life after having her own experience with matchmaking, but did the film accurately portray real New York City matchmaker experiences? The Ultimate Matchmaker, Jennifer Donnelly, shared her honest opinions on what movie got wrong and right about her industry.
As a high end matchmaker that caters to millionaires and billionaires, she did find that the character, Harry, was similar to some of her real life clients as affluent families tend to hire her to find matches for their children just as Harry's mother was pushing him to get married. More obvious similarities include interacting and approaching strangers, attending clients' weddings and receiving inundating questions about the profession.
Jennifer Donnelly helps high net worth indviduals find love across the globe.
The demographic Donnelly mainly serves are ultra-wealthy individuals with a client base of about 60% males and 40% females. With her rates ranging from $150,000 to $500,000, her success rate is conservatively 97%, she shared. 'My clients have built extraordinary careers, achieved financial success, and cultivated rich, dynamic family relationships. What they're truly seeking isn't just access—it's deep alignment. And they want to find that connection without putting themselves through the spotlight of a public search process,' she explained on why clients are willing to pay for her premium services.
However, there were way more differences than similarities. The way Lucy, Johnson's character, was interacting with clients was not an accurate representation. 'In the movie Lucy makes friends with clients in addition to stating that she 'hates' her clients while talking unkindly about them. This would never happened at my agency. Everyone, including myself, signs an agreement to enforce no outside friendships. Ee genuinely respect clients and absolutely enjoy working with them,' she explained. Lucy smoking is another professional behavior that Donnelly said would deter clients, as many high-end clients do not want to be around smokers.
Jennifer Donnelly, founder of the Ultimate Matchmaker.
As far as the actual process of helping clients find love, in the movie, clients are on dating apps but that would never happen in real life. Donnelly shared that her clients wouldn't even consider it due to their status, privacy, and limited time to dedicate to dating. The mindset around understanding what the client needs and deserves is also more of a conflict in the movie. Lucy arranges 10 bad dates in a row and believes people just want to settle, so she doesn't give them exactly what they want, and believes the client is fully responsible for making the relationship work. 'At The Ultimate Matchmaker our clients are so well understood;we don't set up pairings that would result in bad dates. Additionally, we execute an intensive screening process in an effort to do everything possible to make sure we give the client exactly what they want—they don't have to settle. The $500k investment allows me to help as much as needed during the relationship. I am on the same team as my clients and I want them to win,' she explained.
Other small differences include employees taking frequent breaks to celebrate every successful client date in the movie, but at The Ultimate Matchmaker, success is expected and the celebrations with incredible gifts are saved for the big wins like engagements and marriages. Donnelly also noted that matchmakers at her agency make much more than Lucy's $80,000 salary.
The Materialists is now available for streaming on Amazon.
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