Is there anything in the movies as emotive as a great kiss? There’s a reason one of the earliest ever films, 1896’s The Kiss, was just two people smooching. The appeal of watching people kiss on screen is undeniable. It’s a connection being made in front of our eyes, one with unlimited potential. Locking lips is especially vital in the romantic comedy, where it serves as the ignition of the love that audiences have been yearning for.
In Celine Song’s Materialists, there’s plenty of hot canoodling between the gorgeous Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a New York matchmaker, and the absurdly hot Harry (Pedro Pascal) and John (Chris Evans), the two men she’s interested in. It’s a classic love triangle scenario (the ultimate romantic comedy trope). Still, Song’s film slyly shows off the difference between Lucy’s desire for Harry and John in two fascinating, sexy make-out scenes.
(Warning: Spoilers for Materialists below!)
Lucy has an extensive past with John, including a heated argument in the middle of a busy New York City street on their fifth anniversary. But their relationship is in the past, and Lucy has her eyes set on Harry, whom she meets at a wedding—he’s the brother of the groom Lucy matched to her client. Harry is immediately smitten by Lucy, but she’s far more intrigued by his exceptionally lucrative job and his potential as a client.
After a series of dates, Lucy still doubts their compatibility. She’s fixated on money, and Harry has tons of it—and that’s enough to convince her that this relationship has the possibility of a perfect pairing. She goes back to his glamorous penthouse for the first time, and the two are all over each other, making out with the giddy energy of knowing you’re about to have sex for the first time with the person you can’t get enough of. That’s a vibe, though, that feels one-sided.
On the surface, everything here is what rom-com audience movies dream of. Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal are both outrageously hot people, and watching them excitedly make out with each other is, to quote classic cinema, the stuff that dreams are made of.
But there’s something off about the whole thing: While Harry is all over her, Lucy is too busy taking in the size of his exquisite penthouse. While Harry kisses her, she can’t stop looking at the various rooms he’s pinned her up the wall against, rather than Harry himself. Song keeps the camera in medium or wide shots: we can’t get closer because Lucy herself is keeping a mental distance from Harry. Lucy wants Harry’s status, but not Harry.
When they begin to consummate their relationship in Harry’s bedroom, we don’t join them—you can hear the excited giggles and light moans, but Song purposefully keeps away from their sex. Instead, Song’s camera stays in Harry’s hallway, slowly zooming in on Lucy’s vibrating phone. That’s because it’s John calling her, hoping she can make the play he’s about to perform in.
Here, the camera takes on Lucy’s subconscious. She’s not present with Harry. Instead, she’s thinking about the one who got away. It’s no wonder she breaks up with Harry weeks later. Lucy ends things with Harry not because they’re not a good match, but because there’s someone else who her heart cannot ignore.
After Lucy breaks up with Harry, she properly reunites with John. She’s subletting her flat for the week she was supposed to be in Iceland on a dream vacation with Harry. But now she has nowhere to stay, leading her to John’s door. John’s place is nothing like Harry’s—he lives in a much more familiar New York, shacked up with two annoying roommates. So instead of her staying there, Lucy and John agree to get in John’s car and travel upstate, with no particular direction or destination. Things with Harry were glamorous and controlled, with one exclusive restaurant after the other. With John, they could go anywhere, do anything.
They stumble upon a wedding that John’s catering company is working at, and they crash it. On the dancefloor, the two slow dance. Locked in each other’s arms and gazing into one another’s eyes, they can’t resist the temptation and kiss.
While her make-out with Harry finds her distracted by a bougie penthouse, with John, everyone else fades away. Though she’s surrounded by dozens of other people, and there’s loud music—a strong contrast to Harry’s quiet, cavernous apartment—all Lucy can see is John. It’s shot entirely in close-up, as we see their tongues and lips jostle with the thrill of a spectacular discovery. Everything else fades away, and you’re swept up in their indisputable desire. It’s explosive.
Lucy can finally put aside her stifling obsession with money and realizes John is the one for her. Perhaps he always has been. And all it took for her to get that was a good old-fashioned makeout. Or two.
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