Between two loves

Released in 2023, Past Lives drew public and critical attention to Celine Song, a South Korean-born Canadian director who made her feature film debut with a novel with autobiographical touches.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture the following year, the film spotlighted an artist originally from the off-Broadway stage who also seemed to have a commanding command of the camera. Her new project, "Materialistic Loves," hit theaters on Thursday the 31st amidst high expectations.

The success of Past Lives has allowed Song to work with a stellar and far from modest cast. Dakota Johnson plays the protagonist Lucy, a frustrated former actress who becomes an exceptional matchmaker at a New York dating agency.

Confirmedly single, she faces a dilemma: get involved with the millionaire charmer Harry, played by Pedro Pascal, the actor of the moment (also appearing in the blockbuster Fantastic Four), or rekindle her passion for her poor ex-boyfriend John, played by Chris Evans.

The references to the financial wealth of one and the monetary limitations of the other are important because, as hinted at in the title, the romantic drama structure of Materialistic Loves is established between embracing the infinite, but also empty, possibilities of a suitor or the emotional security, but without whims to be satisfied, of the other.

The standoff is handled with elegance by Song – a former matchmaker herself – in a script tailor-made for Dakota Johnson to shine in the lead role.

However, it seems that the director and screenwriter struggled with the development of the male roles. With a very clear focus on what Lucy should do when faced with her doubts, the film reinforces somewhat simplistic stigmas about the personalities of both Harry and John, simplifying the plot's developments.

Just like Lucy's divided heart, Materialistic Loves oscillates between an abundance of grace and a lack of subtlety in the way each character's path is defined on screen.

If in Past Lives the director's sensitivity was evident in the exchange of glances, in the small gestures of affection and in the couple's geographical and emotional distance, in Materialistic Loves there are too many words and not enough gestures capable of making the speeches more tangible. •

Published in issue no. 1373 of CartaCapital , on August 6, 2025.

This text appears in the print edition of CartaCapital under the title 'Between two loves'