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Time of India
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
‘Materialists' ending explained: Who does Lucy Pick—John or Harry?
With her long-awaited second feature Materialists, Celine Song returns after first breaking and then gently stitching our hearts back together with Past Lives. Add Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Dakota Johnson into a romantic comedy ensemble, and you've got the kind of casting dream no one saw coming. It's hard not to fall for it. According to GQ India, Materialists follows hotshot New York matchmaker Lucy (Dakota Johnson), who has successfully orchestrated nine marriages. She meets wealthy capitalist Harry (Pedro Pascal) at a client's wedding—a 'practical' encounter that quickly leads to courtship. But her past collides with her present when she runs into her ex, John (Chris Evans), a struggling theater actor she clearly hasn't forgotten. As the story unfolds, one question looms large: who does Lucy ultimately choose? When Lucy discovers that her client Sophie (Zoe Winters) has been sexually assaulted by Mark (a voice cameo from Past Lives actor John Magaro)—the man Lucy had matched her with—she takes a leave of absence. Harry invites her to join him on a trip to Iceland, and she agrees. But while packing, she finds an engagement ring hidden in his bag—and everything suddenly stalls. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Over takeout, she shares the bizarre backstory behind Harry's secret surgery—the one that added nearly six inches to his height. Honest but shaken, the two decide to part ways. With her apartment rented out for a week, Lucy awkwardly asks John if she can crash at his place. Rather than squeeze her in with his noisy roommates, he playfully suggests a road trip upstate. They sneak into a stranger's wedding, and amid clinking glasses and shaky tunes, they share a dance—and a kiss. When John later asks, nervously, where they stand, Lucy simply grins and shrugs. They are in limbo, but it feels strangely perfect. Then, Lucy gets a panicked call from Sophie: Mark is trying to force his way into her apartment. Lucy jumps in a car with Harry to race back and check on her. After the crisis settles, Lucy and Sophie have a raw, honest conversation—one in which Lucy realizes that no matter how empty John's wallet is, he's the one who truly matters. She smiles, and when John offers her one last chance to start over, she takes it. The next day, just before she's due to hand in her resignation, Lucy receives an offer to become the head of Adore. She goes for a picnic in Central Park with John and tells her current boss, Violet (Marin Ireland), that she's still considering it. There, amid soft petals and shy smiles, John proposes again—this time with a handmade ring crafted from the flowers he brought. Lucy says yes. During the credits, we see Lucy and John at the city clerk's office, side by side with other couples, smiling as they apply for their marriage license. Materialists isn't the warm, breezy New York rom-com people may expect from Celine Song. Instead, as GQ India rightly observes, it's a sharp, poignant look at millennial dating through a Gen-Z lens. Through Lucy's awkward, often emotionally tangled nights, the film peels back the insecurities—on both sides of the gender divide—that quietly shape modern love. From ghosting and self-worth to the transactional undercurrents of relationships, Materialists stares everything down without flinching. The star power—Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans, and Dakota Johnson—remains Materialists' biggest draw, as IMDb confirms. Johnson's reserved, quietly glowing Lucy is a joy to watch, while both suitors—Evans' tender, artsy John and Pascal's magnetic, overcompensating Harry—are equally compelling. Dakota Johnson shares such potent chemistry with both that choosing between them feels as difficult for viewers as it is for Lucy. Cinematographically, the film gives New York a warm, organic visual language we don't often see. Materialists offers more than just steamy charm or romantic dilemmas—it layers math, emotion, power, and pain into a thoughtful story about love in an age of uncertainty. It may not hit the same deep emotional notes as Past Lives, but it wins your heart in its own raw, intelligent way.
Business Insider
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
7 love triangle movies to watch after 'Materialists'
'Materialists,' a highly anticipated romance movie came out on Friday. Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal play characters stuck in a love triangle. Here are seven other love-triangle movies to watch next. "Materialists" could become a classic love triangle movie after it was a hit with critics. The film stars, which came out Friday, stars Dakota Johnson as a matchmaker torn between her romance with a rich financier, Harry (Pedro Pascal), and her broke ex, John (Chris Evans). It's directed by Celine Song, whose directorial debut, " Past Lives," was also about a love triangle and was nominated for two Oscars. The success of that past film, the recognizable stars, and the popularity of the love triangle trope have created a buzz around "Materialists," which could make it a commercial success. If you want more love triangle drama after "Materialists," here's what to watch next. "Challengers" Song's husband, Justin Kuritzkes, wrote 2024's " Challengers," one of the year's most talked about movies. The film, directed by Luca Guadagnino, stars Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor as two tennis players who go from friends to rivals as they compete for victory and the love of a woman (Zendaya). Though the film was not a major box office hit, it reignited the discourse around love triangle movies and horniness in art. "Past Lives" Song's 2023 film "Past Lives" follows two friends from South Korea, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), over 20 years after Nora's family emigrates to Canada. While the pair has a deep connection, the timing is never right and Nora gets into a relationship with another man. "Past Lives" isn't a traditional love triangle movie because the rivalry doesn't start until halfway in the movie, but is just as emotional. "The Twilight Saga" "Twilight" is one of the most iconic movie franchises of the the early 2010s — and it centers on a love triangle. The series' main plot follows Bella (Kristen Stewart), a teenage girl who gets caught in a love triangle between her classmate (Robert Pattinson), a vampire, and her childhood friend (Taylor Lautner), who is secretly a werewolf. If you're looking for films about messy romance, all five "Twilight" movies are available on Netflix. "Bridget Jones's Diary" Before "Twilight," the buzzy love triangle movie of the 2000s was " Bridget Jones's Diary." In this rom-com, the heroine, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger), is on a journey to improve her life and forms connections with two men: Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), a sleazy womanizer, and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a judgmental, cold lawyer. "Bridget Jones's Diary" is a lot more comedic than "Materialists" but is similarly realistic about the struggles of modern dating. "The Age of Innocence" " The Age of Innocence" is an Oscar-winning movie directed by Martin Scorsese and an adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel of the same name. The film, set in the 1870s, follows Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis), a lawyer who is engaged to marry May Welland (Winona Ryder), but instead falls for her scandalous cousin Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). It's essentially "Bridgerton" season two set in the Gilded Age. Newland is stuck between following his heart, adhering to society's conventions, and committing to May. "Brooklyn" The love triangle in "Brooklyn" doesn't just see a woman have to choose between two men, but two countries. Saoirse Ronan plays Eilis, an Irish immigrant in 1950s New York who falls for an Italian man (Emory Cohen). But when a tragedy brings her home to Ireland, she forms a relationship with another man (Domhnall Gleeson). "Brooklyn" was nominated for three Oscars and is rated highly by critics and the audience alike on Rotten Tomatoes. "Brooklyn" is available to stream on Hulu. "She's Gotta Have It" "She's Gotta Have It," directed by Spike Lee, is more of a love square than a love triangle movie. Nola (Tracy Camilla Johns) is a young woman secretly in a relationship with three men she loves for different reasons. When the men meet and discover they are dating the same woman, Nola is forced to choose between them. But this film is a cautionary tale rather than a romance.
Gulf Today
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Celine and Johnson talk about the film and falling in love
Before Celine Song was an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, she was a playwright in New York who needed day jobs to pay rent. That's how she found herself as a professional matchmaker. What may have begun as a purely transactional gig, a way for her to keep making her art in an expensive city, taught her more about people's wants and needs and the true contents of their hearts than she could have ever imagined. 'I always wanted to write something about it because there seemed to be a story in it that is massive and very epic in proportion,' Song said. 'It affects every human being on Earth.' And while waiting for her breakout film 'Past Lives' to debut, she did. That film is 'Materialists,' a modern-day New York love story starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans that's heading to theatres this weekend. Johnson is the matchmaker presented with two different types of men for herself — one a poor struggling actor and ex-boyfriend, the other a wealthy 'unicorn' — and the internet has already been drawing battle lines. But, like 'Past Lives' wasn't really about a love triangle, 'Materialists' is about something more than the question of which guy is the 'correct' choice. Song and Johnson spoke about the film, falling in love and the modern marketplace of dating. How did you find each other? SONG: We met up thinking that we were just going to get to know each other and be friends and I walked away from that conversation — this is just from my perspective — but I think I was still sitting there when I texted my producers and the studio being like, 'I think I've found my Lucy.' That's how casting works for me, it's always about falling in love. It's very connected to what we talk about in the film. JOHNSON: I knew you had this movie that you were about to start making. I was basically told it was too late. I was like, but I really want to meet her because she's so smart, and I've seen interviews and obviously had seen 'Past Lives.' I just wanted talk and get to know her as an artist and a person and so I went into this being like there's no chance that I'll be in this movie, but maybe she'll make another one. We just had such a good time talking, Where do we meet Lucy in life? JOHNSON: She's sort of at the top of her game in her work and is very disconnected from her heart and focused on being a perfectionist and getting people to get married. On the surface, you see her as a very transactional person and not really invested in people's souls, but she actually is and really does want the best for them. She's also on her own journey of trying to figure out what it is she wants for herself in this life, and, essentially, do you fight for the thing that you think you want, or do you fight for that thing that you know you need? Is that right, Celine? SONG: That's so good. What are you trying to say through the two men in her life? SONG: It was never going to be a conversation about which flavor of a person. It's actually so much more about this marketplace of dating that all of us live in if you're single, and also the marketplace that Dakota's character is navigating. She knows the math better than anyone else in the film. She's an excellent matchmaker. Pedro plays somebody who is probably, in straight dating, someone of the highest possible value. JOHNSON: Celine speaks so eloquently about the marketplace of dating and I glitch at those words because I'm like, you can't explain love that way. But that's actually how people are. Marriage used to be a business deal. It was like, my father wants your cows and my mother needs your wheat and whatever. Associated Press
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Materialists: Breaking Down the Ending of Dakota Johnson's New Movie
If you walked into Materialists expecting a glossy, upper-crust rom-com, you probably walked out blinking and confused. Celine Song's Materialists doesn't end with grand gestures or sweeping declarations. The film begins with a question: what if love were just another asset class? It ends with another: what if it isn't? By the time the closing credits roll, our central lover girl has made choices that feel like a settling of accounts. At first glance, the film looks like it might be a sleek satire—think High Fidelity in The Row. But like Past Lives, Song's breakout debut, Materialists is less interested in plotting a typical romantic arc than in studying the moment someone realizes they're tired of managing their own life like a startup. The woman at the center of all this calculation is Lucy (a whisper-perfect Dakota Johnson), a professional matchmaker for New York's elite—though 'matchmaker' hardly captures the strategic, Silicon-Valley-meets-Venus nature of her work. Her clients want love, but they want it optimized. So does Lucy. Or so she thinks. Lucy had a long-term relationship with John (Chris Evans, shaggy and emotionally vulnerable), a sweet but struggling actor. They lived together in a modest apartment but broke up because, as Lucy says, their lack of money was making them miserable. There was real affection between them, but also a gnawing sense that Lucy's ambition was outgrowing the life they'd built. Enter: Harry (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy tech founder who meets Lucy through her matchmaking work—and promptly falls for her instead. He's charming and stable, a penthouse kind of guy. He represents everything Lucy is supposed to want. Harry persists. He courts Lucy the way one might court a promising early-stage investment—lavishly, with patience. She caves, cautiously. Their relationship coincides with a professional upswing: Lucy's clients are coupling up, deals are closing, and her crown jewel match—between longtime client Sophie and a charming new prospect named Mark—feels like her magnum opus. But Materialists doesn't believe in upward trajectories. Sophie reports that Mark assaulted her, Lucy's carefully balanced portfolio of love and commerce collapses. The algorithm broke. And worse, it's personal. Harry, good on paper and good in practice, becomes collateral damage. Lucy, having sublet her apartment in anticipation of a couple's trip to Iceland, moves in with John. They travel upstate, slip into old rhythms, kiss at a wedding. But the fairytale doesn't click into place. When John asks the inevitable, 'Are we doing this again?' Lucy doesn't have an answer—only a growing awareness that she's still measuring her feelings against a spreadsheet she no longer believes in. Then comes the film's sharpest pivot: a call from Sophie. Mark is outside her apartment. The police won't help. Lucy and John race over, not as matchmaker and ex, but as people who care. They sit with her. They file the paperwork. It's a turning point—unflashy, deeply felt, and more intimate than any romantic gesture. And it makes the next one—John's proposal during a casual lunch in Central Park—feel earned, not just emotionally, but existentially. By the end, Lucy is offered a promotion she doesn't quite want, a life she no longer needs. She says maybe. She kisses John. The credits roll over a quiet tableau of marriage licenses being processed at the clerk's office. No sweeping score. No final kiss in the rain. Just a signature, a choice, and a recalibration. Materialists is not a film about choosing between men. It's a film about choosing between stories. Lucy doesn't reject ambition or romance—she just stops outsourcing her values to either. 'Materialists' is playing in theaters now. Buy Tickets
Pink Villa
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Materialists Star Dakota Johnson Would've Been 'Fired' if She Was Real-Life Matchmaker Says Professional, Know Why
Dakota Johnson has been winning hearts with her brilliant performance in her newest release, Materialists. The actress is portraying the role of a matchmaker while finding herself in a love triangle with Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. While Johnson 's character in the movie seems to be ideal on various levels, a real-life dating coach from N.Y.C., Maria Avgitidis, thinks otherwise. Avgitidis went on to critique the actress' role in Materialists and claimed that the character was flawed, with the director and the makers failing at getting the details correct. She claimed that if such an employee as Johnson's character had been in the business, they would have gotten fired. Maria Avgitidis' comments on Dakota Johnson's portrayal of a matchmaker in Materialists Following the release of the Celine Song directorial, the N.Y.C.-based matchmaker, Maria Avigitidis, sat down for a conversation with People Magazine. She revealed to the media portal that her professional self is far away from the Madame Web actress' portrayal. Avigitidis shared, "I don't see myself in this.' She further added, "I was trying to warn some matchmakers: 'I know you're about to throw a whole movie screening for this. 'Tread carefully.' I don't know what else to tell you." Furthermore, in the talks with the outlet, the matchmaker addressed the point of abuse and violence on the first date, as shown in the film. She claimed that Johnson's character would have been fired in such cases if she existed in real life. 'I've had to fire clients for being bad on dates two times in my 17-year career, but they were able to admit, 'You know what, Maria? Yeah, that was really inappropriate behavior,'' she said. Meanwhile, in her defense, the director, Celine Song, revealed that all the details mentioned in the movie came from real life. The Past Lives filmmaker claimed that her inspiration for Materialists came from her when she was working at Tawkify. Song stated, "The things that are in the movie came from the truth I learned: that there is a very funny, very dark objectification of each other's humanity, and therefore a very real commodification of each other, as we go through this thing that we call dating.' The filmmaker went on to say, "But it's supposed to be in pursuit of love." Materialists is running successfully in theaters, following the big premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
