Is dating solely about roses, chocolates and the feeling of butterflies in your stomach?

Beneath this film’s love triangle set in New York is a searching critique of how we have come to evaluate relationships: by income, height, status, and “boxes checked.” In doing so, it offers a timely reflection on the cost of reducing marriage to a transaction.

Meet the characters:

John Pitts (Chris Evans), aspiring actor

Lucy Mason (Dakota Johnson), successful matchmaker

Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal), financier looking to marry

The competition

The contrast between the two love rivals, Harry and John, is clear:

Harry, the polished financier who eventually comes clean that he has gone through height-enhancement surgery to become taller, represents the world of performative adequacy:

Even the body becomes a project for market enhancement.

Looking beyond Harry’s material wealth

Lucy took a hard look at everything she received:

• roses (big bunches on multiple occasions)
• dates at fancy restaurants
• and so much more

Despite how lovely everything seemed to be, she too had to come clean in saying:

“I’m not in love with you. And you’re not in love with me. And no amount of money can fix that.”

Steadfast love with John

John, by contrast, was not polished. He cannot promise financial prestige, only enduring love. Lucy and John do not reunite because their circumstances are perfect, but because they are willing to build a shared future despite imperfection.

In an age of relentless performance pressure (financial, social, even physical), Materialists gently argues that resilience is found in steadfast love, not curated compatibility.

The lasting lesson from Materialists

What makes Materialists distinct is not that it ends in a proposal, but that it reframes what that proposal signifies.

In Central Park, John proposed with a flower ring, and Lucy accepted. It was modest, fragile, yet represents something more enduring than wealth or status: a deliberate commitment.

In recovering the language of promise over performance, this film invites us to reconsider marriage as a stabilising force for individuals and society at large.