By John Corrado

Following the poster debut yesterday, A24 has just released the first trailer for writer-director Celine Song’s Materialists. This is Song’s highly anticipated second feature following her acclaimed, Oscar-nominated 2023 debut Past Lives.

This one is a romantic comedy starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. Johnson plays a New York matchmaker, with Evans and Pascal as the two competing love interests. There is a lot riding on this film. It was always going to be tough for Song to follow up Past Lives, a tender drama that served as one of the best directorial debuts of all time. In some ways, making a prestige rom-com alleviates some of that pressure. She’s working in a different genre.

Since Past Lives was my favourite movie of 2023, I’m especially curious to see how she follows it up. This one looks like more of a commercial play, but a very enjoyable one, with hints of James L. Brooks. I trust Song’s writing and directing skills to pull this off. And, hey, I’m very open to her bringing back the vintage, R-rated romantic comedy for adults. We need more of these in theatres again.

The film opens in theatres on June 13th. The full trailer is below.