Rom-com fans (as well as fans of Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson, and Chris Evans), rejoice: Materialists is coming to Philippine cinemas.
Materialists delivers a juicy, heart throbbing premise that harkens back to a warm, golden era of American rom-coms à la Nora Ephron, who wrote and directed films like Sleepless in Seattle, Julie & Julia, and You’ve Got Mail. Materialists follows successful matchmaker Lucy (Johnson), who excels at finding love for her clients, but finds herself torn between two men: the charming millionaire bachelor Harry (Pascal) and her rugged ex-boyfriend John (Evans).
The film first premiered in the United States on June 13, but the global buzz had been building weeks in advance thanks to its all-star cast. Who would Lucy end up with: Harry or John? Then again, seeing as Materialists director Celine Song is known for adding a good dash of introspection, drama, and longing to her stories (see Past Lives), maybe the real question isn’t who she ends up with, but why it matters at all.
“So much of the movie is about how much we objectify each other and ourselves,” said Song in an interview with Forbes, “and one of the most important lines in the film is ‘I’m not merchandise, I’m a person.’ So part of this ‘Onward and upwards’ is the way that we are always being asked to think about ourselves as an object that has value, and we always have to improve our value.”
Sureseats and SM Cinemas have already listed the film to premiere in the Philippines on August 6. While that’s nearly two months after its U.S. release in June, local fans can still look forward to experiencing the film’s romantic drama and all the hype that came with it on the big screen.
