4 Romantic Comedies To Watch After ‘Materialists’

As with her debut film, the utterly terrific drama Past Lives, director Celine Song has once again knocked it out of the park with her most recent endeavor, Materialists.

A sensational romantic comedy exploring the subtle differences between genuine love and casual dating, Song’s new film has earned consistently positive reviews for its thoughtful writing, tender themes, and the exceptional performances of its three main leads (Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal).

For those who happened to experience Song’s latest film for themselves, we decided to put together a list of similarly-veined romantic comedies we’d heartily recommend after watching Materialists in theaters.

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

There’s many different reasons to love Bridget Jones’s Diary, whether looking at the standout performances of Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant or its inventive translation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to contemporary London. Combining a thoughtful portrayal of a young woman torn between two seemingly ideal romantic partners, Bridget Jones’s Diary is a fantastic romantic comedy we simply can’t recommend enough, giving rise to a fan-favorite series still going strong to this day.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Alternatively, of course, instead of watching Bridget Jones’s Diary for the umpteenth time, you could always circle back to the utterly sensational 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. A timeless story of love, class, and the pressures that come with finding love in an often loveless social environment, Pride & Prejudice is quite possibly the very best take on Jane Austen’s fabled romance story, thanks in large part to the undeniable chemistry between Keira Knightley’s Liz and Matthew Macfayden’s soft-spoken Mr. Darcy.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

If Materialists teaches us anything, it’s that love has the potential to cross over social boundaries, paving the way to romantic attachments unlike any other. Similarly, Crazy Rich Asians doubles down on this heartrending notion, focusing on a pair of star-crossed lovers overcoming gaping differences in wealth, class, and cultural backgrounds.

She’s Gotta Have It (1986)

Before he became known for his incendiary social dramas, director Spike Lee was busy eking out a place for himself in the indie circuit with 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It. An unconventional romantic comedy, She’s Gotta Have It follows a young woman juggling several different romances in her life, with each of her prospective lovers coming from vastly different backgrounds from one another. Smart, funny, and thought-provoking in its portrayal of modern relationships, it’s among the most underrated films from the legendary Malcolm X and Do the Right Thing director yet.