‘Materialists' is Celine Song's tactful deconstruction of modern love

Tatler Asia

5 days ago

In the Materialists universe, Dating is less about connection than optimisation. It is self-improvement turned into a corporate strategy. Song doesn't condemn it outright; instead, she lays it bare, letting the implications speak for themselves. It makes the audience realise that maybe, the marriage plot of Jane Austen or Thomas Hardy—a handful of prized cows and a generous dowry—never totally left in the advent of sexual freedom. Instead, replaced with something sterile yet, in a way, indirect.
The film's tension builds toward a disturbing turn, one that underscores Song's assertion that the objectification baked into modern dating doesn't come without consequences. Beneath the polished surface, Materialists reveals something rough and familiar: the pressure to become the most valuable version of oneself. 'You're not an asset—you're a person,' the film suggests. But in a world where value is quantified in income, height or charm, that idea is harder to internalise than it should be.
Despite moments of wit and warmth, this is no feel-good romance. It's a film about performance and the personas we put on to survive dating in an age of metrics. Still, it avoids total cynicism. Johnson brings a steely charisma to Lucy, allowing vulnerability to surface, especially in her scenes with John. In those moments, all the spreadsheets and scorecards fall away. What's left is messy, unresolved and human.