The Materialists: A rom-com that reminds us God’s love is without measure

Celine Song’s latest film follows a successful New York matchmaker as she pairs people up by reducing them to numbers such as age, height and salary. But God doesn’t do this, says Giles Gough, and neither should Christians looking for love

At first glance, The Materialists looks like the quintessential rom-com. Dakota Johnson has the terrible problem of choosing between impossibly rich Pedro Pascal and excessively earnest Chris Evans. How ever will she choose?  

But on closer inspection, this film is also an interrogation of the modern dating scene. Johnson’s character Lucy works as a high-end matchmaker. She seeks out potential partners for those wealthy enough to afford a luxury service which charges its clients thousands of dollars. As they are paying a premium, they believe they can ask for exactly what they want in a mate, being painfully specific when it comes to factors like age, BMI, salary and, crucially, height.