Nothing says “throwback” like a movie trailer that opens with “In a world…” and a voiceover so retro it practically dusts off your VHS player. That's exactly how A24's latest trailer for Materialists lands-a neon-lit love letter to the golden age of 90s rom-coms, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. But here's the uncomfortable truth: in 2025, this approach is as risky as wearing cargo pants to Fashion Week.
Let's get real. Celine Song's debut, Past Lives, was a Sundance darling-intimate, aching, and Oscar-nominated. So why pivot to a glossy, trope-heavy rom-com for her sophomore feature? The trailer doesn't just flirt with cliché; it winks, buys it a drink, and asks it to move in. We get the classic love triangle, a perfectionist matchmaker, and a “math of modern love” pitch-all wrapped in a package that feels like a script rescued from 1998.
The trailer's voiceover, melodrama, and montage editing are straight out of the Notting Hill playbook. It's a calculated pastiche, and the marketing leans into it-hard. But in a decade where rom-coms have evolved to spotlight diversity, authenticity, and emotional nuance (Crazy Rich Asians, To All the Boys I've Loved Before), is this retro move bold or just backward?
The Rom-Com's Shifting Equation
The 90s rom-com was a formula machine: meet-cute, quirky best friends, urban backdrops, and fate-driven love. But that formula got stale. By the 2010s, audiences wanted more-realism, representation, and stories that reflect the messiness of modern relationships. The genre's recent resurgence has been powered by films that balance humor with heart and tackle contemporary issues head-on.
Celine Song's own experience as a real-life NYC matchmaker gives Materialists a whiff of authenticity. She's seen firsthand how love gets reduced to numbers-height, income, job title-and the film promises to poke at the gap between what people say they want and what actually makes them happy. But the trailer itself? It's all surface, no subversion-at least on first glance.
The Real Gamble: Will Audiences Buy It?
Here's the twist: A24 is betting that nostalgia sells, especially with a star-studded cast and Song's indie cred. But if Materialists doesn't deliver a fresh spin beneath the retro gloss, it risks feeling like a museum piece-pretty, but irrelevant.
“As a pastiche of the era of classic romantic comedies, the trailer works swimmingly. … But if Song is as smart as I think she is, she may introduce these tropes only to later defy audience expectations.”
So, will Materialists be a clever subversion or just another rerun? Would you risk your Friday night on a formula-hoping for a twist? Comment below.
