The latest trailer just came out for Materialists, and it really solidifies the movie’s whole vibe. The film is the latest from Celine Song, a director who is not a household name yet, but could be soon. Song delivered her feature debut in 2023 with Past Lives, a Sundance Film Festival stunner that later wound up being nominated for Best Picture. With this film, she showcased her ability to deliver a heartfelt, emotional, and intimate romance film, as the movie chronicles its characters over the course of years.
Fast-forward two years, and the breakout indie director is re-teaming with A24 on another project, but she has leveled up from her first film. Her sophomore feature, Materialists, is a star-studded movie that includes Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans in the main roles. Song has stayed in the romance genre with the film, this time producing a romantic comedy about a professional matchmaker who struggles with her own love life along the way. Having enjoyed Past Lives, I was already excited about Materialists, but this latest trailer has made things even more interesting.
A24’s New Materialists Trailer Is Out
And Its Differences From The First Trailer Are Telling
A24 has now released the latest trailer for Materialists. The trailer includes footage of Johnson’s protagonist, Lucy, at work at her matchmaking job. After celebrating the upcoming marriage of one of her clients, Lucy is back at it with other people who have highly specified criteria. As hints about Lucy’s own complicated love life are given, the clip includes a deep-voiced trailer narrator who notes, “In the world of matchmaking, no one plays the game better than Lucy. But love isn’t part of her equation.”
Curiously, there is not a lot of new footage between the previous trailer for Materialists and this version. The marriage and wedding celebration, with an appearance from supporting actor Marin Ireland, highlight the same sH๏τs. A lot of the dialogue is identical, including the key line “Lucy M, the eternal bachelorette.” It is more populated with the Madonna song “Material Girl” than the first trailer, which only included moments of the tune at the beginning. But despite all the similarities between the two trailers, this glimpse at Materialists makes one distinct choice.
Materialists Revives A Nearly Extinct Trailer Tradition
And It Feels Like I’m Back In A Different Era Of Movies
The Materialists trailer’s use of voiceover narration is a throwback in the best way. Such narrators came into play as early as the 1940s and remained popular throughout the 1960s and beyond. One prominent voice actor for these trailers was Don LaFontaine, who provided voiceover for over 5,000 movie trailers, including 2001: A Space Odyssey and other hugely famous trailers. LaFontaine pᴀssed away in 2008, and the trailer tradition died down shortly thereafter. In my early memories, I can recall hearing the baritone “coming soon” and other trailer dialogue while watching mid-2000s DVDs or theatrical releases.
The latest Materialists trailer intentionally punches up some of the genre conventions, but if Song is as smart as I think she is, she may introduce these tropes only to later defy audience expectations.
But in modern Hollywood, this method of advertisement has predominantly faded into obsolescence. That is, until this latest trailer for Materialists. Using lines like “love isn’t part of her equation” and “a modern take on what true love is really worth,” the trailer not only uses this method, but leans into the melodrama of it. As a pastiche of a bygone era of romantic comedies, the trailer works swimmingly. From the first frames, this Materialists trailer feels of a different decade, as it frames itself within love triangle and romantic comedy tropes.
As Materialists is brought to the big screen next month on June 13, it will be interesting to see the extent to which it plays into and/or disrupts these tropes. While the movie is clearly more comedic than Song’s last film, the director expertly used her debut to portray longing and past love without relying on an overdramatized cheating plotline. The latest Materialists trailer intentionally punches up some of the genre conventions, but if Song is as smart as I think she is, she may introduce these tropes only to later defy audience expectations.
Source: A24
