!['Materialists': Celine Song On Love, Capitalism, & The Commodification Of Dating [The Discourse Podcast]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/19101843/https___cdn.sanity.io_images_xq1bjtf4_production_ac3688b8827ce1a0154606d4f0beb4adea40fe97-6000x4000-1-1.jpg "'Materialists': Celine Song On Love, Capitalism, & The Commodification Of Dating [The Discourse Podcast]")
Celine Song made waves with her semi-autobiographical debut “Past Lives,” a gentle gut-punch of a romance about fate, longing, and the people we could have become. With her follow-up, “Materialists,” Song trades whispered regrets for sharp banter, high-end fashion, and the ruthless calculus of the New York City dating scene. But beneath the couture and comedy lies another deep dive into the contradictions of modern love.
In this episode of The Discourse, Song discusses the journey from her first film to her second, and how a real-life stint working as a matchmaker in her twenties inspired the biting, beautiful love triangle at the center of “Materialists.” “I worked as a matchmaker for six months in my twenties,” Song says. “And that was what really inspired the whole story. I feel like I learned so much in those six months that I will carry with me for all of my life.”
“It really is about what it’s like to live and love in New York City,” she continues. “And it’s also personal in that, you know, love is one of the great mysteries. It’s the thing I’m most fascinated by.”
The film stars Dakota Johnson as Lucy, a fiercely analytical, no-nonsense matchmaker navigating romance like a market analyst. But as Song explains, Lucy’s arc is about breaking free of that detachment. “She really believes in the things that this dating marketplace dictates. And then she realizes that so much of what’s happening is about the objectification and commodification of the self. And that it’s connected to the way we hate ourselves. Then, by the end, she does something that Lucy at the beginning of the film would think is very stupid. But we all know it’s the only smart decision she could make: to say yes to love.”
Song describes Lucy as a character who might feel familiar to many viewers. “Of course, I’m Lucy,” she admits. “But I think that’s also something that I know the audience will walk out feeling, too. We understand what Lucy’s going through, that tough balancing between the cynical and the completely romantic. That’s the dilemma of modern life.”
The director also unpacks the film’s unique visual storytelling—from the crisp perfection of Harry’s penthouse to the lived-in chaos of John’s two-roommate flat. These contrasting spaces tell their own story. “We wanted those spaces to reflect different kinds of lives in New York City,” she says. “There are people who are richer than Harry and poorer than John, but this is some kind of a spectrum. We all had stayed in that apartment [like John’s] at some point in our lives. It’s a sense memory.”
Harry’s luxury world, in particular, is carefully curated. “He probably got the most famous interior designer to do that space,” Song says. “And he probably got a really famous stylist to help him curate the closet. He’s born rich. He has beautiful taste.”
Song also reflects on the male characters’ emotional arcs, particularly Pedro Pascal as Harry. Without spoiling too much, the film doesn’t shy away from showing how beauty standards and self-worth affect men, too. “The value system broke a man,” Song says. “It does not spare men. It’s supposed to be a domain of the chicks, but men are equally at the mercy of it. You think Harry is above it, and you’re like—no, he’s crushed by it too.”
Whether she’s exploring the lives we almost lived or the people we nearly loved, Song remains one of the sharpest, most humanist voices in cinema. With “Materialists,” she proves once again that she can spin moral paradoxes and messy emotions into something dazzling.
The Playlist Presents: Celine Song’s Essential New York Films
- When Harry Met Sally (1989)
- You’ve Got Mail (1998)
- Manhattan (1979)
- Honorable Mention: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
“Materialists” is in theaters now. You can listen to the full interview with Celine Song below:
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