It turns out that Materialists is not exactly what audiences were hoping for, as evidenced by the split reactions online over its “subversive” themes and its disappointing B- CinemaScore. Sure, the independent film may have performed above expectations at the box office during its opening weekend, but if word-of-mouth is as mixed as it seems to be, the film’s overall performance will likely be modest at best. This is not only what happens when you don’t deliver on your promises to revive a beloved formula, but it’s also what happens when a film claims to be more profound than the genre it also claims to adore.
Materialists is Not Really a Rom Com At All
When the second trailer for Materialists was released, film lovers online immediately took notice of the use of a trailer narrator. This, of course, was once common in advertisements for films in the nineties and early aughts but is now largely forgotten. Here, the trailer narrator sets the tone for what kind of movie this will be: A good old-fashioned Hollywood romantic comedy. Sure, it’s set in the contemporary moment, but the premise—a matchmaker caught in a love triangle of her own—is a classic sendup of the iconic films from that era (Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, etc.)
Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the first time that A24 was packaging one of its films as something that it wasn’t. Babygirl was mismarketed as a pulpy sensual thriller when it was more of a provocative, psychological drama, while Civil War had far less action than audiences were expecting. The problem with the marketing for Materialists is that the film is promising to be a dreamy fantasy, but the actual movie is not.
Yes, Materialists thinks it’s more sophisticated than the good old-fashioned Hollywood romantic comedy that audiences were promised. It’s full of overwritten scenes in which characters with little personality make seemingly profound musings about the intersection of romance and economics over and over again. The effect is neither a nostalgic homage nor an exercise in elevating a tried and true formula; instead, Materialistis insists sophistication upon itself without using its own genre to its benefit.
One way in which Materialists could have successfully elevated the classic rom com would be if the script actively used tropes from the genre to provide social commentary, rather than having characters who are too self-aware for their own good talk endlessly about their philosophies. If Celine Song wanted to comment on the genre, as she claims she does, she could have written this as a true satire. However, Materialists is largely devoid of humor, a troubling choice given that the film is supposed to be a romantic comedy.
The Empty Meaning of Materialists
Writer/director Celine Song spends the vast majority of Materialists addressing how financial stability is a central component to courtship, as if this were some novel idea. Sure, Hollywood tends to ignore this important part of dating. For instance, in Nancy Meyers’s movies, wealth is barely acknowledged because everyone is typically wealthy. Though the filmmaker’s desire to foreground socioeconomics in her story is commendable, she never deepens the point to something genuinely compelling.
Audiences know that real life single people care about how much money a potential partner makes. It’s not profound enough to include that in a narrative. It’s also hard to see Dakota Johnson’s “Lucy” complain about making $80,000 a year and not feel some kind of inauthenticity at play here. The same goes with the guy who played Captain America having multiple roommates at this stage in his life...
While Materialists claims to be a subversive take on its genre, the protagonist’s character arc is about as predictable as it gets. Despite the fact that Lucy couldn’t initially marry John (Evans) because he’s a broke actor, we know that she will ultimately choose him… and she does. If Song truly wanted to commit to the idea that this movie is subversive, then that central arc would look very different.
At the end of the day, this movie fails to deliver on the classic romantic comedy it was dressed up as in its marketing campaign. Furthermore, it fails at delivering the subversive social commentary it so badly wants to provide. In fairness, this is an ambitious effort, one that Greta Gerwig managed to pull off in Barbie— a film that imbued social commentary into its story without outright rejecting or disrespecting the history of its subject.
Materialists, on the other hand, wants to be better than its subject (the romantic comedy) without having a strong enough message to convey. Celine Song is therefore unable to bring back or elevate the rom com because her film doesn’t even commit to its genre or to the point it’s trying to make. One thing remains true, though: The online clamor indicates that audiences do want to see well-made romantic comedies on the big screen. Unfortunately, Materialists likely won’t be the film to usher in that revival.
via @PrimeTimeFilms_