Spoilers ahead for Celine Song’s Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson as a matchmaker torn between the rich and handsome Pedro Pascal and poor and handsome Chris Evans.
I saw a blistering headline for Rebel Wilson’s rom-com Bride Hard that read it’s a “laugh-free action comedy,” “an invitation you’ll want to decline.”
And sadly, I wasn’t surprised. A secret agent who’s also maid of honor at a wedding feels like something Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook would have been in 20 years ago. As funny and incredible as the cast is (Academy Award winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, people!), the premise — and even title! — feel dated and out of touch. After all, we’re supposed to get excited about the reteaming of Pitch Perfect‘s Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp, from a franchise that ended eight years ago?
It’s no secret that romantic comedies have been on the decline in recent years, and people are always trying to figure out how we can rejuvenate them. Well, Celine Song has done that, writing a romantic comedy (and yes, it’s a comedy — a dark one!) that reinvents the genre with all of the things modern audiences want to see. Except everyone is bitching about it on X.
Celine Song Deconstructs Romantic Comedies AND Modern Romance in One Foul Swipe
Materialists takes an approach to modern romance that no one ever talks about: value. The numbers game of dating. If you were lucky enough to meet your spouse before the advent of Match.com, then you have no idea what I’m talking about. Dating and romance is all about math, as Dakota Johnson’s Lucy posits. ’90s romantic comedies would argue that the math lies in the stars and fate, but let’s be real: Nowadays, it’s the algorithm that presents you with the person in front of you, or in Materialists‘ case, it’s the matchmaker that fields through other paying customers to put your profile at the top of the pile.
Song is taking a realistic approach to the film genre because, frankly, today’s audiences are too cynical for quintessential rom-coms of the past. She grounds it in realism by revealing Lucy’s matchmaking salary (80k!) and depicting what it’s really like to date a working actor in New York City (even though it’s Chris Evans, no one wants to bang in that apartment). Can you imagine if we learned how Meg Ryan afforded that brownstone in You’ve Got Mail? It would both pop the fairytale bubble while also being incredibly thrilling! (Romantic comedies rarely mention the fiscalities of things!)
Not only does Song deconstruct the romantic comedy, but she also dissects modern relationships. Harry (Pedro Pascal) is what Lucy and her matchmaking cronies call “a unicorn” because he’s wealthy, handsome, a seemingly good person, and tall. During the final third of the film, we learn that Harry used to be 5’6″ and had reconstructive surgery to break his legs and make him 6 inches taller! He tells her that women didn’t notice him before that. So even if you have financial value, aesthetically pleasing value, and value as a human being, if you’re not the right height, you’re shit out of luck. It’s a chilling, stunningly honest moment in the film. (If you’re a guy on the apps, you know what I’m talking about! And if you’re a girl on the apps, now you know why the guy who’s 5’8″ lists his height as 5’10”.)
The Zoe Winters Materialists Subplot
Then of course there’s the Zoe Winters, err Sophie, of it all. Lucy’s favorite client, her great white whale she’s trying to unlist like a house, can’t find any good matches. One 48-year-old potential suitor deems her too old (she’s 39), and then the best option Lucy puts in front of her, the client who tells Lucy he’d be open to a second date, sexually assaults Sophie on the first date.
Lots of people online were freaking the fuck out about this plot point, saying that Sophie’s assault only exists to make Lucy a better character and whatnot. I disagree. This is a very important modern-day subplot that highlights the realities of dating in 2025, especially since Match Group — the company behind Hinge, Tinder, etc. — notoriously has covered up reported rapes and assaults. Plus, in a post-#MeToo world, how do you not include this reality in a film about a matchmaker? If the film didn’t address this aspect, people would have flagged it as incredibly tone deaf and then someone would flag that comment as tone deaf because it’s disrespectful to people who can’t hear.
Celine Song doesn’t necessarily try to reinvent the romantic comedy with Materialists because it can’t be reinvented to what audiences are nostalgic for. The simpler days of When Harry Met Sally… and Sleepless in Seattle are long gone (no 2025 woman in her right mind would meet a man and his son late at night at the top of the Empire State Building and not wear a rape-axe). However, if we want to see stories about modern relationships, Song is certainly paving the way for other filmmakers in a nuanced way, and we should be excited for the fresh material. Otherwise, we’re going to get more Bride Hard.
