Celine Song’s Film Materialists Explores Modern Love Rationality

Celine Song’s film "Materialists" offers a nuanced exploration of love, contrasting a logical, transactional view of relationships with emotional, irrational experiences. The story centers on Lucy, a professional matchmaker in New York City who prioritizes material factors like compatibility and stability but finds her own romantic life challenged when she meets Harry, a wealthy suitor, and reconnects with her ex, John. Through Lucy’s interactions, the film questions whether love is merely a business deal or something deeper and more complex, reflecting on the commodification of romance in modern society. Critics note that Song’s work avoids traditional rom-com tropes, instead presenting a thoughtful meditation on love’s contradictions and the human desire for genuine connection. The film has been praised for its delicate, insightful storytelling and for broadening the conversation about how people navigate relationships amid societal pressures and expectations. Overall, "Materialists" invites audiences to reconsider love’s rational and irrational elements and the ways they intersect in contemporary dating.