The ‘Materialists’ Is A Return To The Classic Rom-Com Formula We Know And Love
A24 just dropped the trailer for Materialists, Celine Song’s latest rom-com starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans.
No, you’re not dreaming, but this is a no-judgement-zone if you want to pinch yourself just in case. The universe knew we wanted Pedro Pascal as a romantic-lead wearing a tux in a $12 million mansion, and the universe delivered. If there is something that feels familiar and comforting about this combination, it’s because all good rom-coms draw on these five secret weapons.
1. A-Listers & Household Names
Names like Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, and Reese Witherspoon carry the weight of their massive box-office success and reduce our risk in buying that movie ticket or selecting something to stream. If you can turn to your significant other or your parents and ask if they want to see the new “so-and-so” movie with absolute certainty they’ll know who you’re talking about, it’s because they’re in the big leagues. Johnson, Pascal, and Evans have all paid their dues to get there.
2. Haves And Have Nots
Is it even a rom-com if one of the characters isn’t a capitalist mogul or royal-adjacent? Some part of our social DNA is still aware that marriage for love has only been the norm for the last 300 years or so, and we enjoy coming face to face with that choice again and again. Being loved for who we are, no matter what tax bracket we come from, is a universal need, and raises the stakes of any movie plot. Pedro Pascal as a silver fox millionaire is giving classic Richard Gere in every way.
3. Love Triangles
Hollywood can dedicate a feature length film or a three-minute montage toward the depiction of a couple falling in love, and the differentiator is always conflict. No one watches pure rainbows and sunshine for an hour and a half, there has to be something to drive the story forward, and the easiest way to inject that into a rom-com is with a rivalry. Pascal and Evans are sure to have theaters packed, and fandoms warring in a way we haven’t seen since #TeamEdward vs. #TeamJacob.
4. Weddings
There’s nothing more universally archetypal in a rom-com than a wedding, and we love them in every flavor, shape, and size. The Wedding Planner, Bridesmaids, My Best Friend’s Wedding, 27 Dresses, Father of the Bride, and Runaway Bride all prove the rule. Dakota Johnson as a matchmaker and eternal bachelorette is the perfect paradox for a plot and will have us examining what it truly means to spend your life with someone.
5. A Plot That Engages With Age Old Questions In New Ways
It’s not enough to simply regurgitate what’s been done before to create a profitable film. The way Johnson’s character describes her tryst with Pascal as an “impossible fantasy”, the shots of Evans’ small apartment he shares with a roommate, and the dialogue where Johnson tells Evans that people get married “because they’re lonely and because they’re hopeful”, suggests that we’re looking at the juxtaposition of the very promises this genre has offered generation after generation, and the harsh realities of our current economy. It begs the question, “How do we navigate love in adulthood when it is much harder to afford than we ever imagined?”
