Valentine's Day Film Review: Materialists

For Valentines Day, I thought I’d write about a film I saw a little while ago called ‘Materialists’ starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans.

The overall plot centres around the transactional dating market where people relate to each other in what psychoanalysts call: ‘part objects’ - focusing on the function of a person rather than taking in the whole autonomous person. 

Some examples of these ‘parts’ are Height, Salary, Age. 

Whether we admit it or not, we’ve all been to some extent ticking these ubiquitous boxes, unconsciously or otherwise. In such a scenario, modern dating can begin to feel like a ‘business deal’ driven by a ‘materialistic’ mindset, where genuine connections or attraction can take a backseat - if not become altogether obsolete.

As Materialists begins, we are introduced to Lucy - the main character - an ambitious matchmaker for a high end dating agency in NYC. When considering potential love matches, her motto is ‘the maths need to add up’. As if finding the ‘perfect match’ is about numbers, equations and breaking things down into ‘material assets’ versus ‘intangible assets’. This sounds like a courtship between fund managers rather than potential lovers!

Yes, there is indeed a ‘contract’ that we all, consciously or unconsciously, agree to when entering a new relationship, the 4,000 year history of marriage can attest to this. Traditionally, marriage was seen as a legal, not just romantic, contract used to solidify social standing and combine estates. Today, there is a balance between the implicit and explicit nature of the ‘relationship contract’. How does one temper the urge to be too explicit or not explicit enough? Navigating this fine line reminds me of the proverbial ‘head over heart’ tug of war one can feel when searching for love. 

Additionally, this film explores interesting themes around what people place value on when seeking a mate, including their individual upbringings and socio-economic backgrounds. These are some elements of what couple therapists call ‘the couple fit’ - understanding the conscious and unconscious reasons two people are attracted to  each other.

In the end, our main character recognises that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and she comes to the conclusion that ‘you know when you’re in love, because it will be easy, no maths’.

To conclude, Lucy ponders over some universally acknowledged questions that many of us will have asked of ourselves at one time or another:

Why do people get married?

Why does anybody even get married?

Because people tell them they should ...

And because they’re lonely ...

And because they’re hopeful ...

They want to do it differently than their parents

And my personal favourite line in this film (in reference to the emptiness of solely marrying for money):

Lucy says ‘I’m either going to die alone or get a rich husband’

Her friend casually replies  ‘Same thing’