7 Best Lucy moments from Materialists

Celine Song’s Materialists breaks the usual romantic comedy pattern and does it in a way that feels honest. On the surface, this looks like another big city romance where a stylish woman has to pick between two men, but Song makes it feel messier.

Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, who works as a matchmaker in New York and treats marriage like a business plan. In Materialists, she finds wealthy husbands for demanding clients and promises them they will marry well.

Then she meets Harry, who has money and charm, and she runs into John, who is her ex and still broke, but warm in a way money can’t fake. Pedro Pascal plays Harry with a smile that hides insecurity, and Chris Evans turns John into a man you believe never got over Lucy.

Materialists does not settle for easy answers, and it lets Lucy question her own rules. You watch her test her dream wardrobe against old memories of cheap dinners with John. You see her tell Harry she wants money, but her eyes betray her doubt. Materialists ask if comfort is enough when your heart says otherwise, and it never slips into fake happy endings. This is romance that stays honest about what love costs.

7 Best Lucy moments from Materialists

1. The Montage of Interviews with Clients

Materialists (Image via Sony Pictures Releasing)

Lucy sits across from her clients, who think money can buy perfection. They list demands like fresh teeth and a zero loan balance, and a house in the Hamptons.

She listens with her best poker face while she makes mental notes that these people want something they can never find in a file. She knows the matchmaking game works because people like to believe love is a transaction.

These quick back-to-back scenes expose what Lucy really sells. She sells the dream that anyone can skip the mess and go straight to a clean happy ending. This run of ridiculous interviews reminds us Lucy never plans to be the product. She keeps herself out of the package. That wall matters later because when it cracks we see how deep she lives in her own sales pitch. These short scenes let us know her shield is strong but not made of steel.

2. The Wedding Drink with John

Lucy walks through the wedding like a guest who has to look busy. She spots John near the bar. He stands there with his tray balanced like he did when they shared a cheap apartment.

He brings her a Coke mixed with cheap beer without asking what she wants. He just knows. She takes the glass and holds it like a small secret that money never bought her.

This tiny move opens up a door she thought she shut. It feels soft because John never asks for anything big. He just gives her the old comfort. The drink is not fancy. The taste is flat and sweet. She knows this will stay with her longer than the next champagne toast. This moment does not need words. The glass says he remembers when love did not cost more than a food cart dinner. That truth pokes at everything she swore she outgrew.

3. The Dance with Harry

Lucy meets Harry where the lights stay low and the wine flows without limit. He steps in like he knows he has enough money to buy everyone’s time.

They dance close enough for Lucy to drop her guard. She tells him she wants a husband with money because love alone did not pay rent when John was broke. She thinks this will push Harry away.

Harry does not leave the dance floor. He nods like he understands. He keeps his hand on her waist like he has decided she is worth the cost. Lucy feels a twist in her chest when he says yes to her blunt truth.

The dance does not sparkle like movie dances. It feels tense because Lucy’s honesty makes Harry’s soft grin feel real. They step around the floor like they both know this is not love yet. This slow spin starts her test of whether comfort can feel warm.

4. The Confrontation with Sophie

Lucy gets a knock on her belief that matches can be sold like diamonds. Sophie trusted her file and ended up scared in her own apartment because the date crossed the line.

Lucy’s boss tells her to stay out of it and keep her name off the lawsuit. Lucy can’t do that because Sophie trusted her sales pitch. She shows up at Sophie’s door without the Adore name badge.

Sophie opens the door and does not smile. She says the matchmaker's promise means nothing when trust breaks down in real life. Lucy listens with her hands folded because she knows she messed up big.

This door visit cracks the fake armor Lucy wears when she claims she is just the go-between. Sophie’s eyes remind her that there is no clean deal. There is just the risk that people bring. This moment shifts Lucy from a cold broker to someone who sees the cost of easy fixes.

5. Finding the Engagement Ring

Lucy packs her bag for Iceland because Harry wants to show her glaciers and fancy hotel robes. She opens his suitcase to slip in a scarf and finds a ring box hidden under folded shirts.

She picks it up and feels her heart drop instead of lift. This should be the win she worked for since her first broken date with John. Harry chose her like a prize.

She sits on the edge of the bed and asks herself if this means the story ends well. Harry tells her he fixed his legs because taller men win the room. He says this with pride.

Lucy stares at him and sees the polish she has always sold. She knows this ring can’t make her love him. She puts it back in the bag. The dream cracks because a shiny plan does not keep you warm when you hate the truth it hides.

6. The Road Trip with John

Lucy knocks on John’s door because she has nowhere soft to land. He clears the couch without asking questions. He lets her talk in half sentences until she says let’s get out.

They jump in his cheap car and drive past the city’s expensive skyline. They stop at diners and drink coffee that tastes like burnt beans. Lucy laughs at a joke that makes no sense.

They crash a stranger’s wedding for free cake. She kisses him before the DJ plays the next bad song. She feels her shoulders drop because John never asks her to hide parts she hates.

This road trip does not fix their money worries. It does not promise a beach house or trust fund. It just brings back the truth that comfort sometimes lives in cheap motels and soft confessions. Lucy lets herself remember she did not always want a safe price tag on her chest.

7. The Central Park Proposal

In Materialists, John does not have a plan when he sits next to Lucy on a park bench. He talks about the way things could go wrong because his bank account is still thin.

He pulls out no diamond. He just says what he has left. He wants her to see him without the stage lights. He wants her to take this broken open version.

Lucy looks at the trees that block out the noise. She knows this choice means tight rent and leftover takeout on bad days. She does not care because John’s hand feels better than cold cash.

She says yes with no crowd watching. She leans in and forgets what perfect looks like. They laugh at the people walking by with dogs and lattes.

This moment closes her long pitch for comfort and opens a door back to warmth. Lucy’s yes feels small but holds more weight than any glossy plan ever could.