Materialists

Verdict

A sharp, talky modern romance with real ideas about class, desire, and self-worth, but its cool, self-conscious style may feel more mannered than moving for some viewers. If you like relationship dramas that interrogate dating like a social system, it has plenty to chew on; if you want a warm, easy romcom, it may feel too detached and deliberate.

Best for

• viewers who like cerebral relationship dramas
• fans of modern New York romance
• people interested in class and dating politics
• audiences who enjoy offbeat, dialogue-driven films

Skip if

• you want a breezy, conventional romcom
• you dislike slow, reflective pacing
• you prefer chemistry-first love stories
• you want something emotionally straightforward

Overview

Materialists is less interested in the fantasy of finding love than in the economics of being chosen. It treats dating as a marketplace without reducing its characters to slogans, and that tension gives the film its bite. The result is often funny, sometimes piercing, and occasionally so controlled that it can feel emotionally sealed off from the viewer.

Worth noting

Celine Song’s approach is elegant and intentionally uncomfortable: long pauses, precise dialogue, and a sense that every romantic choice is also a class choice. That makes the film feel smarter than a standard studio romance, but also less immediately satisfying. The performances are calibrated to the material’s cool surface, which works when the movie is probing insecurity and status, and works less well when it needs warmth.

Bottom line

For viewers open to a romance that doubles as a social critique, this is a worthwhile watch. For anyone hoping for a swoony, easygoing date movie, it may be a frustratingly analytical one. It’s a film about wanting love and fearing what that want reveals.

Top Letterboxd reviews

a (1★) · 36352 likes

broke men propaganda needs to be stopped update: Celine Song can say all she wants about this review being a classist way for capitalism to colonize love, but she still hired a zionist MAGA (Dasha Nekrasova) to star in this movie. What a hypocrite money hungry director who clearly knows nothing about capitalism and colonialism, cheers! And to all the upset men: I’m a lesbian, it was never that deep ❤️

timtamtitus (2.5★) · 34170 likes

what if they just did it like challengers

Karsten (3.5★) · 27432 likes

they had to memorize so many lines

sydney a (1★) · 25329 likes

i just couldn’t take that damn knee surgery scene seriously

Kellen Gallagher (2.5★) · 24252 likes

Giving Dakota Johnson a line where she says she can’t act is diabolical

Themes

modern dating, class anxiety, romantic choice, self-worth, New York City, emotional detachment, social performance, love as labor

Topics

romantic drama, relationship satire, New York City, class consciousness, modern romance, dialogue-driven, bittersweet, contemporary, social critique