It feels almost quaint, doesn’t it? A voiceover in a trailer, reading the text on the screen and explaining key character details and plot elements? It’s the kind of style you might remember from the trailers for those ’90s and early 2000s rom-coms, but maybe not too many since. But despite today’s trailer for Materialists describing itself via voiceover as “a modern take on what true love is really worth,” it’s clear the Celine Song-directed film is pulling from these traditions.
Dakota Johnson’s Lucy is a matchmaker, and a seemingly pretty good one at that. “But love isn’t part of her equation,” our trusty voiceover tells us as she gets into a screaming match with Chris Evans in the street. Just when she thinks she’s about to die alone, she meets Pedro Pascal. And just when she meets Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans is ready to change for her. That’s right—our Lucy has found herself in the middle of a love triangle.
While it sounds like Song certainly had some cynicism toward the dating industry while writing Materialists, “The main references I had were Victorian romances,” she explains in a press statement. “[They’re] more in touch with the practical realities of partnership and love than modern romances, because almost all Victorian romances are about class. The fantasy of Pride and Prejudice is that the love of your life is the same as the person who’s going to solve all your practical problems.” You can see for yourself if Pedro Pascal is more cut out for solving Lucy’s practical problems than being the love of her life when Materialists opens in theaters on June 13.
