Celine Song, inspired by her own experience working at a matchmaking agency, shows in the film <i>The Materialist</i> our reality where love turns into a math lesson. Can you be happy if love doesn’t fit into your plans and only seems to complicate l...

Celine Song, who gave us the poignant <i>Past Lives</i>, returns with her long-awaited second film. Those who assume that <i>The Materialist</i> is just a nostalgic summer rom-com (though it is that too) starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans are in for a surprise. Because almost every viewer will find a “pressure point” that this film pushes (and if the viewing experience was not solitary, it will spark an interesting discussion afterward, allowing you to learn a lot about your companion). And that is actually wonderful.

Sofia Bikkanova

Nocturne on the Flute of Seoul’s Pipes: Review of the Film <i>Past Lives</i>

On February 29, the melodrama <i>Past Lives</i> hits Russian theaters, marking Celine Song’s directorial debut and earning two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and

Open material

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a professional matchmaker from New York. Her job is literally an assembly line where clients voice their parameters for a potential partner—from appearance to social status and income—and the heroine often successfully assembles this “Rubik’s cube” of a future ideal couple. Lucy herself is not in a relationship, but she is convinced that she will marry the next man she starts dating. At the wedding of one of her clients (the ninth, her personal record), she meets two men: wealthy financier Harry (Pedro Pascal), whose life is the epitome of luxury, and her ex-boyfriend, a waiter aspiring to be an actor named John (Chris Evans), who can barely afford rent.

Celine Song, inspired by her own experience working at a matchmaking agency, shows in The Materialist our reality where love turns into a math lesson. Can you be happy if love doesn’t fit into your plans and only seems to complicate life? Is it worth sacrificing feelings for comfort and financial security? Why are we so obsessed with status and material markers of success? Why are we afraid to love those who don’t meet our expectations? Why is it so easy to buy an engagement ring with a multi-carat diamond without wanting to show your true self or get to know the person you bought it for? Is it easy to remember that a woman going on a first date with a stranger risks more than just disappointment? There will be no simple (actually, no) answers.

Drawing inspiration from the rom-coms of Nora Ephron and Billy Wilder, Song almost flawlessly integrates them into the modern world. The way Lucy’s clients talk about who they want as a partner, especially compared to the “sugary” classics of world cinema, feels like a cold shower, but it honestly reflects the reality of dating.

Dakota Johnson as Lucy is the heart and soul of the story, and this film rightfully belongs to her first and foremost. She acts with such tenderness and vulnerability that her heroine becomes not just a character, but a person you want to hug tightly, even when you disagree with her decisions.

Pedro Pascal as Harry is charm personified (is anyone surprised?). His character seems more like a symbol than a full-fledged person; it’s no coincidence that he is literally compared to a mythical creature. Chris Evans is a composite of many rom-com boys, but slightly more realistic, imperfect, having made many mistakes, and thanks to his sad eyes, you can believe he really wants to fix them.

The storyline with Lucy’s client named Sophie (Zoe Winters) adds an element of almost psychological thriller to the plot, triggering Johnson’s character’s existential crisis and finally bringing us back to reality. This side of human relationships is not usually discussed, unfortunately, not only in cinema. There are also no solutions here—neither what to do about it nor how to live with it—but at least the unwillingness to remain silent about it could be the key. And the fact that the client who went on a date with Sophie and committed an act of violence against her is voiced (his face is not shown) by John Magaro, who played Arthur—the husband of Greta Lee’s character, a hero positive in every respect—feels like subtle irony.

Sofia Bikkanova

Nocturne on the Flute of Seoul’s Pipes: Review of the Film <i>Past Lives</i>

On February 29, the melodrama <i>Past Lives</i> hits Russian theaters, marking Celine Song’s directorial debut and earning two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and

Open material

In the end, what should interest us all so much—the love triangle, which became part of the film’s marketing campaign, as well as the attitude toward it—is practically irrelevant. At that same wedding where Lucy meets both Harry and John, the groom’s father utters the most important line of <i>The Materialist</i>: “Love is the last and only religion, the last country, the last ideology of survival; always go where love is.”

Roman Kovalev

Love for Three: 10 Striking Love Triangles in Cinema

From the fresh <i>The Materialist</i> to the classic <i>Casablanca</i> – here are 10 striking love triangles in cinema.

Open material

We truly do not choose whom to love; it just happens. With love, we take a step into the unknown each time, opening our hearts again and again, and perhaps that is its strength. And having felt it even once, even after every disappointment, without understanding where it will lead in practice in each individual case, it is impossible to refuse this “deal.”