In the age of materialists, filmmaker Celine Song believes in true love

In a world dictated by algorithms and meticulously crafted dating profiles, where the pursuit of "the one" often feels more like a shopping spree than a soulful quest, filmmaker Celine Song dares to challenge society's superficial ideas about love and courtship in 2025 with her latest film, Materialists. 

The Oscar-nominated Canadian filmmaker has an interesting theory: If you ever want to get to know someone, ask them what their love life is like. Her reasoning is fairly simple. "Love makes fools of all of us," she said in an interview with CBC Arts in Toronto. "Who we really are as human beings before our jobs and before everything else is always going to come out when we are talking about love and matters of the heart."

After garnering acclaim for her excellent directorial debut, Past Lives, Song's sophomore entry is now playing in theatres. A decade ago, while she was a struggling playwright in New York City, she landed a gig as a matchmaker — an experience which informed her latest story. In those six months, she says, she learned more about people than in any other period of her life.

Materialists is proof that she has a knack for dissecting the human heart, but this time she isn't making a rom-com, but rather a romantic drama that holds an unflinching mirror to society's modern mating rituals – ones that date back to Victorian era, when one would marry for convenience and security. The film shows present-day dating still isn't just about finding romance; it's more like a relentless numbers game we've all signed up for, forcing the question: Are we looking for a soul mate or a well-curated checklist?

Written and directed by Song, the film follows New York City matchmaker Lucy (Dakota Johnson), who is extremely good at manipulating the mathematics of mating for her clients. When it comes to her own love life, however, she is torn between Harry (Pedro Pascal), her perfect match who checks all the boxes, and her imperfect ex, John (Chris Evans), a 37-year-old struggling actor who still lives with roommates and can't give her the comfortable life she desires. 

Song's experience as a matchmaker exposed her to the surprisingly consistent and  materialistic checklists clients often brought to the dating arena. Height, weight, income and age were recurring criteria. The film points out that clients tend to be more honest with their matchmaker than they'll ever be with their therapist. "Everyone would say, 'I want somebody who's over six feet tall,' or 'I need somebody who makes more money than me,'" Song said. "Dating is supposed to be a game we're playing in pursuit of love, but the language we use, the numbers that we are bringing up, they seem to be so far away from the actual ancient feeling and the miracle of love, which is something that cannot be quantified."

This observation is reflected in social media trends, where idealized partners are often reduced to a string of quantifiable traits. Take, for instance, the viral TikTok meme: "I want a guy in finance, 6'5", blue eyes." With a laugh, Song said such superficial fantasies overshadow the profound, yet less tangible, dream of true love. "It is so much easier actually to fantasize about having that guy who is in finance, 6'5", blue eyes, than actually dreaming of a true love that makes all of those criteria feel meaningless." 

A central theme throughout Materialists is a paradox Song puts like this: "Love is easy, but what's hard about it is it's easy." The filmmaker describes love as a spontaneous, uncontrollable phenomenon, "kind of like when lightning strikes you." But it's this inherent lack of control, she believes, that challenges people today, who prefer to meticulously plan every detail of their lives. "It's very difficult to let go of that control and to surrender when it comes to love."

Song's film is a masterclass in weaving profound questions into a narrative that remains both captivating and emotionally intelligent. Materialists has been garnering attention from moviegoers globally because it smartly subverts traditional rom-com tropes by making the material aspects of potential partners glaringly explicit. When suitors appear in the film, their jobs, income and living situations are front and centre, laid bare for all to see. Song explained that this was done deliberately to emphasize how the material worth serves to underscore a crucial, resonant line in the film: "I'm not merchandise, I'm a person." 

The South Korean-born writer explains that the modern inclination to "turn ourselves into merchandise" by altering our appearances with Botox, surgeries, salon treatments and so forth is a way to maximize one's perceived "value" in the cutthroat dating marketplace. The film points out that finding a suitable partner makes one feel valuable – hilariously presented in the wedding day woes of one of Lucy's clients. 

While Materialists sharply points out the cynical landscape of dating today, Song, who is married to screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, doesn't want people to give up on romance. Instead, she hopes her film acknowledges the immense bravery and unwavering faith required to believe in love and to perpetually seek it out. 

"How can we look for this thing that seems like Santa Claus, like this thing called 'true love?' she asks. "Is it gonna be worth the effort, worth suffering in the dating market? I think that the film is really interested in saying, 'Yes, unfortunately, it is quite worth it.'" 

"That's why you have to have faith always," she continued, "which is exhausting and requires you to be very brave. Every day, you have to show up and say something that I think is very humiliating and humbling in a beautiful way. You [have to] say, 'Oh, I want love. I need it in my life and I'm looking for it.'"

In a market saturated with sequels and reboots, Materialists is an original film that finally gives romance movies their due. Song elevates the genre, championing the love story not as a frivolous pursuit, but as an extraordinary human endeavour. 

"Love is one of the very dramatic extraordinary things that we all do," she said. "It is completely worthy of cinema because it is something that concerns everyone, and it's a very serious topic in that it is, ultimately, the way that we're going to find happiness, too." 

Materialists is now playing in theatres.