Materialists director Celine Song reacts to criticism of the film, says ‘It really is disappointing’

Materialists has turned out to be a box office success and has also earned rave reviews from critics. However, there is a section of the audience that has criticized the romantic comedy drama, especially its happy ending.

The movie revolves around Lucy Mason, a matchmaker based in New York City, who is stuck in a love triangle between her ex-boyfriend, John, a struggling actor, and her new love interest, Harry, a millionaire.

Some viewers have labeled the film as ‘broke man propaganda,’ citing how money does not matter in love as per the film’s storyline. Writer and director Celine Song has now reacted to the criticism, saying that she is disappointed with the way some audience members are perceiving the theme. She said in an interview with Refinery29:

“I think that it doesn't make me laugh, because it really is disappointing to me. I think that there is a very real confusion about feminism and the history of feminism. Through intersectionality, so much of feminism has been about anti-corporate and anti-capitalist and of course it was always at the forefront of fighting capitalism, so I'm very concerned about the way that we talk about people who are poor.”

Celine Song reacts to people calling Materialists ‘broken man propaganda’

During the interview, Celine Song said that through Materialists, she wanted to express that being poor is not anyone’s fault, and viewers who are reducing John’s character to just a broke man have not understood the messaging of the movie:

“The thing that's very important to me is to stress that poverty is not the fault of the poor. And I think that given that, it is very brutal. I find it very cruel to talk about John as a character who loves Lucy, and who is a beautiful character being played beautifully by Chris, to talk about him in such cruel terms as 'broke boy' or 'broke man.'”

Speaking about all the chatter around the ‘broken man propaganda,' Song said she didn't feel these comments were not funny. Rather, to her, they represented the deep-rooted classism in society where poor people are equated with being bad. She stated:

“There is something about the classism of that, the kind of hatred of poverty, the hatred of poor people, who, again, it's not their fault that they're poor. I think that is a very troubling result of the way that the wealthy people have gotten into our hearts about how it's your fault if you're poor, you're a bad person if you're poor. So it doesn't make me laugh, actually.”

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Song made her directorial debut in 2023 with Past Lives, which earned Academy nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Materialists, her second feature, hit theaters on June 13, 2025, and has collected over $67 million at the box office at the time of writing. The film stars Dakota Johnson as Lucy, Chris Evans as John, and Pedro Pascal as Harry.

For more news and updates about Materialists, keep following SoapCentral.

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