JAKARTA - The latest batch of Netflix films at the end of 2025 is again enlivened by the works of filmmakers who are no strangers to fans of reflective and emotional films. One of the most eye-catching is Materialists, the latest film by Celine Song which officially premiered on Netflix in December 2025, also marking the director's return to the big screen after the success of Past Lives (2023).
While Past Lives is known for its melancholy, nostalgic, and time-bound love, Materialists comes with a more straightforward, critical, and daring approach. The film, which was first screened in theaters in August 2025, shows another side of Celine Song in dissecting romantic relationships, especially in the midst of urban life that is full of demands for social status, economy, and self-image.
Through Materialists, Song raises the slice between love, social class, and women's self-esteem in a modern society that is increasingly capitalist. The story centers on Lucy, a professional matchmaker at an elite New York matchmaking agency, played by Dakota Johnson. In her work, Lucy is used to breaking down romance into a set of data: income, background, lifestyle, and social compatibility.
For her clients, love is not a matter of mere feelings, but something that can be curated and predicted. However, Lucy's expertise is shaken when she has to face the most personal problem: deciding her own life choices.
In her personal life, Lucy is caught between two men with very different future offers. The first is Harry, a stable, emotionally and financially mature man, played by Pedro Pascal.
Harry is portrayed as an ideal figure in terms of safe, mature, and low-risk social norms. His figure is even labeled as a "unicorn", a symbol of a rare couple that is almost perfect on paper.
On the other hand, there is John, Lucy's ex-boyfriend who works as an actor and is played by Chris Evans. John's life is far from settled. He is still grappling with career and economic uncertainty. However, John offers something that cannot be measured in material terms: emotional intimacy, honesty, and a sense of being understood. The old feelings between Lucy and John have not completely faded.
The three relationships form the core of Materialists' conflict: the battle between love that promises material security and love that feels authentically emotional.
As a writer and director, Celine Song remains faithful to her distinctive style of speaking. Reflective dialogue, a calm narrative tempo, and the use of silence are the main tools for conveying the inner conflicts of her characters. However, compared to Past Lives which is soft and nostalgic, Materialists appears more cynical and sharp in observing the reality of modern relationships.
This film does not romanticize love. Quite the opposite, Materialists dismantle the illusion of romance that is often maintained by urban society.
New York is depicted as a cold, competitive, and stressful living space. Expensive apartments, exclusive restaurants, and modern offices are not just visual backgrounds, but symbols of a social system that affects the way humans build relationships. In this world, love often resembles a transaction and Lucy is right in the center of the vortex, as part of the system as well as an individual trapped in it.
Viewed from a feminist perspective, Materialists offers a relevant and daring narrative. Lucy is not positioned as a passive woman or an object of choice. She is aware of her value, understands the economic reality, and realizes that love almost always intersects with issues of class and financial security.
The film subtly but sharply criticizes social standards that often burden women. Women are expected to choose a stable and "safe" partner, but when they are realistic about the economy, they are labeled materialistic or unromantic. Through Lucy, Celine Song questions the inequality of this assessment.
Lucy's profession as a matchmaker becomes a powerful metaphor. She helps others find the ideal partner based on market standards, but when applying the same logic to her own life, she is faced with moral judgments.
Dakota Johnson's performance feels right for the complex and not always pleasant character of Lucy. She manages to portray a smart woman who is fragile and full of contradictions.
Pedro Pascal appears charismatic with an almost too perfect calm, while Chris Evans gives a warm and frustrated feel as a man who has not fully found his place in life. The interaction of the three builds a conflict that feels human and far from black and white.
Towards the end, Materialists refuse to offer a simple romantic resolution. Lucy's decision is not presented as a victory of love, but rather as the conscious choice of an adult woman who understands the emotional and social consequences of each of her steps. The film is more interested in the process of coming of age than in definitive answers.
As a Netflix show at the end of the year, Materialists is not a light romance film that is just entertaining. This film actually invites the audience to rethink the meaning of love in the modern era when feelings, logic, and social structures collide.
Through Celine Song's distinctive directorial vision and a strong female point of view, Materialists is worth watching not to seek certainty, but to question what love, self-worth, and freedom of choice mean in a world of all-out measurement.
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