Now that it has been just over a year since Challengers, we are currently living in a PC (post-Challengers) world, where we have officially exhausted the group-chat discourse over who we would have chosen in Tashi Duncan's love triangle. But fear not a fresh entanglement glides into view with Materialists.

It arrives dripping in Manhattan light and mischief, positioning Dakota Johnson as New York’s most in-demand matchmaker whose flawless algorithm flat-lines when two of her own potential love interests appear. Pedro Pascal, smart and burnished like an espresso martini at 3 a.m., and Chris Evans, her immaculate-on-paper ex who still knows the code to her apartment.

Written and Directed by Celine Song, fresh from the Oscar-nominated heart-bruise of her last project Past Lives, this set-up is not your ordinary rom-com. Produced by David Jinojosa alongside Killer Films stalwarts Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, the film’s pedigree is as impeccable as its casting. Song splices Nora-Ephron wit with Sofia-Coppola ennui, threading ache through every frame. Johnson radiates nervous resolve, Pascal weaponises soft eyes, while Evans leans into Kennedy-adjacent smugness until it blossoms, unexpectedly, into vulnerability.

Yet beneath the allure of the classic rom-com lurks a sly critique of modern matchmaking, with desire as data points, compatibility as branding, love as the ultimate luxury item. Song’s camera lingers on glass chandeliers and gold trinkets, asking whether the things we chase are trophies or imaginary.

Rom-coms are back, and Celine Song is redefining what this genre looks like in 2025. The love is slippery, money talks, and everyone’s trying to be the main character in their own perfect little life. And it's proven that it's no longer about meet-cutes anymore, but about the slow, cringe-inducing realisation that maybe we want too much. Song isn’t interested in easy endings. She’s interested in how people talk when they’re pretending not to care. It’s glossy, brutal, a little bit delusional. Just like dating in New York.

Before scrolling down to read our curated list of Letterboxd's best reviews, we ask you to pour something sparkling and cue Justin Biebers That Should Be Me. Because at the end of this film, we're all going to be praying on our lucky stars we were Dakota Johnson. Warning, there may be spoilers ahead.