Amores Materialistas

Let me preface by saying that my wife was a matchmaker for over 2 years in L. A. She lived the life of walking around asking people "hey are you single?" So naturally, she and I were excited to see this movie. While there were a few nods to the common (and hilariously ridiculous) issues that matchmakers deal with and some all-too-relatable moments for my wife, we were ultimately very disappointed.

1) I'll avoid spoilers, but essentially the messages sent by this movie to all the single people out there are depressing and incredibly shallow.

2) For a movie called "Materialists" that makes references to money consistently throughout, there was a shocking lack of eye candy in the film. Dinner scenes showed no food. Fancy homes were decorated by a beige monster. Not even travel porn.

3) I'm a fan of Dakota in general, but wow this is a stale performance. She's monotone and lacks any chemistry with the main characters. They interact as if she has a restraining order against them in real life but already signed up to do the movie together.

4) Everything. Is. So. Slow. The character's speak at a snail's pace. They also don't have conversations. Instead, they take turns reciting long monologues to each other. Scenes are drawn out in order to create drama and the soundtrack must just be a Pandora station called "Melodramatic Elevator Music." For a movie that centers around human connection, the main characters interacted like they were written by AI.

The marketing/pr for the film made it seem like this was going to be light, airy, and more of a rom-com. Sadly, that was not the case.

Verdict: Don't Watch.

I watched this without knowing anything about it. I only knew the title and the fact that Pedro Pascal was in it. No trailers, nothing.

To me this just feels like a movie desperately trying to communicate the worlds most obvious ideas and stories, while trying to make it profound in some way. Is this a New York thing (I'm European)? Is it a generational thing (I'm a millennial)? - This movie is like half an idea and a bad sentence stretched over two hours.

This was really nothing, and I would prefer watching paint dry, if it wasn't for the relatively good technical quality.

Do something else with your time. Anything.

I was disappointed in this one. It had its moments, but not enough to warrant a more than an average rating. Dakota Fanning's delivery of dialogue has always been so monotone to me however, I have to say I like this role better than some of her others. She actually seemed to care at a few moments during this movie. The exposure of horrible things that could come from using a dating service was good details. Not in a warm fuzzy kind of way, but it's an unfortunate reality. The shallowness of people when they're looking for the perfect mate was very believable. Disappointing but believable. To me the ending was very predictable.

I think that the movie was overhyped. It felt like there was just something missing and maybe because I watch a lot of series and get to enjoy the progression of characters overtime. That's why I felt like there was something missing. I think that the actors were great and maybe during the storyline there was way too much focus on her job aspect and there could've been just a little bit more of her personal life being expressed on screen. I honestly think the trailer was probably better than the movie and I found myself getting a little bit bored at times. I think that this was a great trio, but I don't know if that this was the perfect movie for them.

'Materialists' was not what I expected.

It's been marketed like a rom-com - but honestly? If you're heading in expecting laughs, you'll be disappointed. What you get instead is a sharp, quietly melancholic study on modern love, dating, and loneliness in the big city. It's not so much about romance as it is about emotional bankruptcy - the way ambition, money, and appearances slowly chip away at real connection.

The story follows Lucy, a matchmaker who views relationships like transactions, caught between two opposites: Harry, rich and polished, and John, her sweet but struggling ex. But the real tension isn't between them - it's in her. What does she actually want? Love, comfort, validation? Or just a life that looks good on paper?

Celine Song's style is unmistakable - lingering shots, dialogue that feels like internal monologue, and a quiet ache humming underneath it all. At times, it almost felt like watching a late-era Woody Allen film - not in tone, but in that subtle, creeping sense of urban melancholy. By the end, I didn't feel uplifted. I felt... thoughtful. A bit heavy, even.

This is a film about the emotional numbness that sneaks in when we live our lives through filters - digital and otherwise. About the loneliness hiding behind perfect apartments and curated dating profiles. And how love (or at least the idea of it) gets commodified without us even noticing.

Not a rom-com. Not really even a romance. More of a character study. A mood piece. A quiet critique. And once I let go of what I thought it was meant to be, I found I really liked it, and I hope you do too.