Money buys love or something like it in 'Materialists'

By Linda Holmes,

Aisha Harris, Cate Young, Hafsa Fathima, Mike Katzif

Published June 16, 2025 at 9:34 AM EDT

Dakota Johnson in Materialists. — Dakota Johnson in *Materialists.*

Should you date for love or financial security? That's the central premise of the new movie Materialists. It stars Dakota Johnson at the center of a love triangle with Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, and is directed by Celine Song (Past Lives).

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Linda Holmes

Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.

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Aisha Harris

Aisha Harris is a host of Pop Culture Happy Hour.

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Cate Young

Hafsa Fathima

See stories by Hafsa Fathima

Mike Katzif