The Materialists: a sadly conservative view on marriage

By Sarah Louise Smyth, Lecturer in Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex

This article contains spoilers for The Materialists

The Materialists purports to be a romantic comedy with a cynical and pragmatic look at romantic relationships. Its protagonist, Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a professional matchmaker, insists that a successful partnering is all about pairing the right numbers: salary, assets, height, weight, age. The man should be tall, the woman should be young and slim; both need to be rich.

This is a world of traditional gender norms, so the film does not concern itself with queer relationships. That is beyond one gag when Lucy interviews…

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