In Materialists, Dakota Johnson’s Lucy makes $80,000 a year

Materialists is the romantic comedy that’s the second feature film from Celine Song (Past Lives) The characters themselves freely tell us, and each other, what they’re worth in exact figures.

The tension that develops among Lucy , Harry , and John is generated almost entirely by their differing relationships to money, property, and status.

Materialists begins and ends with a playful frame story that shows us a dialogue-free courtship between two prehistoric lovers.

Not so much has changed since those days , this device suggests, at least not for those who know how to look past the optimizing calculations of contemporary partner-seeking to remember what love is really about.