Big Picture Big Sound

Writer-director Celine Song's feature debut "Past Lives" was such a note-perfect movie that all eyes have been on what she would do next. The 2023 movie - and one of the best films of the decade, so far - was nominated for two Oscars (Best Picture, and Song's screenplay) and announced the arrival of an observant and deeply emotional filmmaker. When someone like Song comes out of the gate with a movie like "Past Lives" the weight of sophomore expectations can be a heavy burden - or it could be freeing because no matter what she would have done next, it could never touch the greatness of "Past Lives."

Her new film "Materialists" certainly can't match what she gave us with her first film. There's pleasures to be had and the movie is by no means a sophomore slump, but she can't replicate the aching power of "Past Lives," and there are times when it's clear she is trying to. Though the movie is deeply imperfect, "Materialists" continues to show Song is a filmmaker we will see for a long time.

Another upside to your first film being nominated for Best Picture and receiving universal acclaim is that the second one always gets just a little bit bigger in scale. In "Materialists" Dakota Johnson stars as Lucy, a Manhattan matchmaker who is very good at her job. She knows how to read people and assess their likelihood to match with one of her other clients.

While at the wedding for one of her clients, Lucy meets the groom's brother Harry (Pedro Pascal). They flirt, they dance, and they chat, all while Lucy is assessing how many boxes Harry checks (good looking, rich, has a great apartment - check, check, check). In the midst of Harry and Lucy's conversation, one of the wedding waiters places a very specific drink order in front of Lucy. She's confused how Harry already knew what she liked to order, but she turns around and sees the waiter is her ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans).

"Materialists" swims in territory "Past Lives" explored, but does so in the shallow end of the pool. This movie is no great love triangle or emotional game of tug-of-war; it's about Lucy deciding if she wants to be with someone who checks all the boxes or if she wants to rekindle things with her broke, starving actor ex-boyfriend, with whom she may still have a real connection.

"Materialists" is being sold as a romantic comedy, but it doesn't operate in that key. There are amusing moments and scenarios, but it's more of a romantic drama. Some will be distracted by the devastatingly attractive cast and the Manhattan sheen only seen in movies and perhaps miss the more somber notes the movie plays. More so than the who-will-she-choose narrative, Song wrote "Materialists" as a movie about a person trying to find and know their worth. Should someone have to radically change everything about themselves to fit neatly onto a checklist? Or can care and love supersede all flaws?

Song's "Past Lives" screenplay is about as perfect as a movie can get, so to watch her "Materialists" screenplay feel a bit more haphazard is a bit jolting. There's a subplot with Lucy's client Sophie (Zoe Winters) that feels abrupt and takes the movie in unexpected directions. It doesn't really fit in with the entire film, even though Winters is heartbreaking in just a couple of scenes.

Perhaps it's the unavoidable expectations going into Song's second movie, but "Materialists" never really coalesces into something moving - even when individual moments do pop with earned emotion (surprisingly, thanks to Evans). Maybe it's on theme that "Materialists" leaves you wanting more.