Warning: The following contains spoilers for Materialists.

Materialists director Celine Song explains the security-camera view at the end of the movie. Revolving around Dakota Johnson’s matchmaker Lucy as she tries to decide between her dream match, Harry (Pedro Pascal), and her imperfect ex, John (Chris Evans), the romantic comedy that arrived on June 13 sees Lucy eventually decide to marry for love despite all odds. At the end of Materialists, she marries John at the City Hall.

In an interview with IndieWire, Song revealed why she ended the movie with the city hall scene. She shared that City Hall, which was where she and her husband, screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, got married, is “the most romantic place on Earth and the least romantic place on Earth,” a contradiction that drew her attention and ties to the cavemen concept in modern terms. The grand view also puts Lucy and John’s love story in perspective, where their marriage, like everybody else’s, and has a 50% chance of survival. Read her comments below:

For a Hollywood ending, the line at the end of the film, the final line, and the line that is meant to be the most romantic line is, “How’d you like to make a very bad financial decision?” You never know, and that’s why it ends in a marriage bureau [the film’s true last sH๏τ]. We don’t know how many of those marriages that happen in City Hall, how many are going to work. But we know in the news that 50 percent of them will fail. If you ask me what’s going to happen to Lucy and John, it’s 50-50. Unless either of them reaches a different tier in their class — if Lucy takes the promotion, or John catches a slightly bigger break — their chances of staying together would drop further. Maybe a miracle will still happen, where they are so moved by their love, and so in love, that they’re going to be able to move through it, which is the other 50 percent of those marriages that survive.

I wanted it to be like the DMV, which it is. You want it to look like a security-camera DMV. That’s kind of how City Hall is. I got married in City Hall. It’s both the most romantic place on Earth and the least romantic place on Earth. That contradiction I was so interested in. Everybody who wants to get married in New York City, they have to go there. It’s such a special experience. You’re sitting there. You take a number. It’s like a deli counter. It really feels like you’re at Katz’s or something… You pay the [$35], you get a witness, and then you just wait on coffee-stained couches. I always knew that the movie would end there, because what’s so romantic about that place is that it’s very connected to the caveman stuff.

What This Means For Materialists’ Ending

Lucy And John Might Not End Up Happily-Ever-After

The new A24 movie explores dating, the pressures surrounding it, and the dark, unspoken truth behind marriages. However, Materialists grounds itself in telling stories that exist in everyday life, where a girl chooses to marry for love, even though it might be seen as a bad investment. Song’s comment about the last scene sheds light on the movie’s stance on the reality of romance and what it means in everyday life.

Materialists ends on a seemingly optimistic note, where Lucy decides to give her and John another chance, even knowing their flaws. However, the City Hall scene, which serves to tie the entire movie together, offers a more cynical and disillusioned view of marriage in modern times and what it means for most people. Even though the movie didn’t expand to touch on the failure rate of marriage, it’s implied through the City Hall scene.

Our Take On Materialists’ Ending

The Security-Camera View Has A Deeper Meaning

The security camera scene at the end seems random at first, but it actually fits into the movie perfectly because, in the end, Materialists tells a story about love that exists in everyday life. Despite featuring Harry and those who look glamorous on the outside, neither Lucy nor John is bigger than life. They carry baggage from their childhood and have to carve their own paths in life. They are the kind of couple who fight in the middle of the street, and have enough reasons not to be together.

Whether their marriage will end in divorce is unknown. The odds are either against them or for them. The City Hall scene puts them in perspective among other couples waiting in line to get married at City Hall, pointing out how similar they are. It further shows that Celine Song’s Materialists is telling a modern-day story that’s messy and real.

Source: IndieWire