Celine Song, director of the wonderful Past Lives, is a woman that understands human emotion in film. As a debut feature, Past Lives immediately cemented her as one to watch, with a deeply rich screenplay and beautiful direction to complete the package. It was nominated for multiple Oscars, including original screenplay, direction, but also best picture, elevating the level of this film’s success, and Song’s career as a result. No matter what you may think of the Oscars and the Academy as a whole, there is no denying that an Oscar nomination is so sought after, particularly because of what it does for your reputation. To get a nomination for direction and writing alone would have given Song confidence and full control to do what she wants to do on her next project. This is reflected in her new film, Materialists, which feels like a bigger swing than Past Lives in all of its aspects. Falling in line with her debut, this is another exploration of love, and the loss of which, but it also undertakes the mammoth task of tackling the contemporary dating world’s complexities. It does not quite reach the heights of Past Lives, perhaps from having a lot to juggle, but it still comes out on top as an interesting exploration of love today that will definitely strike a chord with some.

Materialists stars Dakota Johnson as Lucy, a matchmaker at a company called Adore. She takes on rich clients and profiles them, searching for their ideal match based on the boxes they want ticked. Whether that be noting down broad aspects like the client’s income or lifestyle, down to more granular matters like height, she treats these tick-boxes like parts of an equation, using maths to connect two people together. We are placed with Lucy when she is celebrating the ninth marriage of clients under her, showing her to be somewhat of a veteran of the dating world, although exclusively through her clients’ experiences rather than her own. At the wedding of the couple, we are introduced to John (Chris Evans), who is working for the wedding’s catering company, and he just so happens to be Lucy’s ex-boyfriend. They split up because she felt unfulfilled and could not stand to be with someone that was struggling for money. Both struggling actors back in the day, Lucy was the one that snapped and gave up her dream, whilst John never quit. He still does not have money but has a passion for acting and won’t give it up, which Lucy respects and still cares for him, as a result. Also at the wedding of her clients is the groom’s brother, Harry (Pedro Pascal). A clearly very confident and wealthy man, he tries to swoon Lucy, who had previously said she was quite closed off to dating. Difficulties at work and problems in her life make Lucy re-evaluate love in her life, and she finds herself at the mercy of the dating world she thought she understood.

Though presented as a rom-com by the marketing, and following a lot of genre tropes, this is an often very mature and negative look at the dating world and all of its trappings. Lucy’s story is very front and centre of the narrative, but there is an obvious throughline that relentlessly critiques dating apps and the way that people view relationships as a whole. Harry, for example, is what Lucy calls a ‘Unicorn client’, which means that he ticks near enough every box that people have with flying colours. He is an ideal height, an attractive man and, most importantly, he is filthy rich. She is adamant that she should not be dating him because she comes from a more working-class background, and she is in her 30s, meaning her looks will expire quicker than someone younger. This is a fundamental problem with dating today, as people are put into boxes and discarded for certain things that they may not be able to control. But underneath those elements, Lucy is still a person and Harry takes interest in her for her more intangible elements, such as her vast knowledge of people and their psyche. Materialists goes on further to critique the dating world via its exploration of sexual assault and the idea of not really knowing people behind closed doors, or even behind a social media profile. Lots of people have said that due to this, the film really struggles to pick a tone and I wouldn’t say I agree. This film shows a very broad spectrum of some of dating’s best aspects, yet also its worst too, which are all realistic outcomes. Even if the tonal shifts can be confusingly placed, frankly, what other aspect of life is more confusing and full of mixed tones than dating?

Lucy’s own story is where a lot of the typical rom-com tropes come out, mainly due to the love triangle between her, Harry and John. That as a setup alone is enough to get that label, but as a whole, Song manages to fill Materialists with her own flair and maturity when it comes to romance and love. There is no doubt that this film is predictable, and you can probably guess where it is going quite early on. But the reasons for its narrative decisions make perfect sense for its love story in tandem with the overarching societal critiques. Part of Lucy’s arc is realising her idea of using math to put people together largely does not work because people are so special. Many people are so unique and cannot just be procured like Frankenstein’s monster, as the film says. But most of all, it understands that underneath all these labels and attributes people have, actually loving someone is one of the easiest things to do. Song attests that love has a purity that is beyond any financial preference or lifestyle choice and that is basically the reason for the film’s title. Love in today’s world has been heavily linked with materialism when, realistically, those things do not have a place among one another. While Past Lives explores lost loves and those sliding doors moments in life, Materialists is Song asking people to hold onto what they have and not let go, which is a much more uplifting sentiment. It is less complex and full of nuance than Past Lives, but that does not mean Materialists has nothing to give.

Once again, Celine Song proves she has got the spark for filmmaking, be it in the director’s chair or holding the pen. She succeeds less here at bringing out any exceptional performances from her cast, but they are all nothing less than solid. The real shine is how mature she can transform such an immature concept, which essentially boils down to ‘will she choose the rich guy or the poor guy?’ She loves to really examine human emotion in all its aspects, showing people at their ugliest, but also showing that they have a lot of worth. Part of love and relationships is about feeling like you have value and Song makes sure to show that all these people do, no matter what. Lucy, Harry and John are all very different people, but they all have their own great emotional strengths, as well as their shortcomings. They are simply human, and I do not think there are many auteur directors in contemporary filmmaking that are as focused on humanity’s nuances and complexities as Celine Song. It can at times be messy and less tonally consistent than her previous work, but Materialists really connected with me and chances are, it will with you too.