'Materialists' Reflects a Mirror on Societal Values
Materialists is a brutally honest depiction of expectations, the shallowness of humanity, and our egotistical sense of comfort over what really matters in life. Celine Song proves not to be just a flash in the pan Director. Instead, she's proving to be one of the best voices in cinema when it comes to love. She sees the complex honesty in a way that other filmmakers usually handle with a melodramatic hand. Where Past Lives is a drama about being friend-zoned, Materialists focuses on social norms that should be discontinued but never will because, in all honesty, we can point fingers and say, "That's the bad guy," when we know deep down that we're materialistic ourselves.
If you were to read the synopsis of the film, you'd assume it's a standard rom-com. The story is about a New York City matchmaker who becomes romantically entangled between her broke ex-boyfriend, John (Chris Evans), and Harry (Pedro Pascal), a financier. Harry is the brother-in-law of one of Lucy Mason's (Dakota Johnson) clients, who married the man she set her up with. When we meet Harry, it's immediately noticeable through Pascal's stoic demeanor that he's an egotistical blowhard. Yet everything he says points to the opposite. His philosophies and morals are sound, but does he really believe in them? Or is he just trying to win the girl over?
Lucy explains to Harry that love isn't about material value. "You're looking for a nursing home partner and grave buddy," she says to him. Because in the end, we want to stick with the person who will love us unconditionally for who we are, not what we have. Yet the question remains: do we truly adhere to those beliefs, or do the fortunate ones marry into wealth to have a comfortable roof over their head? Is a decent house better than dying poor in some rickety apartment?
The movie doesn't shy away from revealing the truth about society. Our materialism is what makes us shallow. Everyone Lucy hooks her clients up with are men who must meet certain height, physique, and income requirements. At one point early in the film, a client says she's extremely turned off by a man who's making "only" $150,000. It doesn't shine a particularly good light on women. Nor does it, men. Despite all of their money, they can still be domestic abusing pigs. Additionally, they share the same expectations as women. In one scene, a male client calls up Lucy, telling her that he wants to drop her service. When asked why, he tells her that all the women she set him up with were ugly. Considering we only hear the client on the phone, I like to imagine he's not that good-looking himself.
Although Lucy works for a petty dating service that represents the worst in people, she's not an empty person herself. Lucy wouldn't still be in love with John if she didn't actually believe in value over riches. But she can't help but get swept up by Harry. Lucy falls for the thing she rails against because that's the human condition. We're hypocrites. Not all of us. Many of us are good people. However, when we are grouped, we often strip away what we feel is right so that we can fit into the tribe we strive to join.
Celine Song's eye for the camera is brilliant. In one scene, Lucy is speaking to Harry about all the qualities that he has that make him a "unicorn," the perfect rich man. The camera remains in a stationary, wide-angle view as Lucy examines him as if he were a test subject. She thinks she's falling for him, but it's the fact that he's checking all of her boxes that lights her flame without her knowing it. The long take shows how Lucy is seduced into the life she sets up for her clients by embracing the beautiful setting she's surrounded by.
Later, there's a great shot where Lucy is speaking with her boss about a troubled client that sends her world crashing down. While in the background, everyone is celebrating a matchmaker whose client has just gotten married. It juxtaposes the events that happened to her client at the start of the film, where a moment of celebration is now a psychological horror scene for Lucy.
For everything that works beautifully in Song's movie, the ending takes a Hollywood route. It coincides with Lucy's character. It even matches the film's theme of grave buddy love. Yet, it's not as authentic as the rest of the film. Granted, people don't often speak in long monologues like Lucy does in the film, but the dialog is so good that it's not distracting. The ending is more of an ethically ideal finale than it is an honest representation of what the film has been saying all along. Minus the formulaic finale, Materialists is more romantic drama than a romantic comedy. It's a romance made for adults that doesn't succumb to silly cuteness or hollow, fairytale qualities, as it's paired with a dose of reality that leaves the audience with something to reflect on.
