<div class="poster-info"> <div class="poster">  <span class="credit">poster courtesy of A24</span> </div> <div class="info-list"> film title: "Materialists" release date: June 13th, 2025 watch date: March 16th, 2026 where i watched: Fandango At Home (rented for $4.99) copy type: worth buying digitally rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 out of 5 stars) </div> </div> <div class="ttbv"> The Tiny Beacon Verdict (TTBV): "Materialists" is a good movie for a rainy day in spring when it's colder outside than it should be. Warm tea, a charcuterie board, lounge pants, a nice sweater, a blanket, and your pet if you have one or friends if they're available are the perfect additions to the viewing. </div> For the first review ever on The Tiny Beacon (very exciting, I know :D), I wanted to do a movie that I've never watched before. It needed to be something remotely interesting, with actors I like, and a movie that I could watch while working (the tiny beacon was still being very slowly coded at the time of watch). "Materialists" checked all my boxes. I remember when the trailers first came out for the movie and had several mixed reviews from the snippets alone. It did kind of seem like it might be broke-man propaganda. But as someone whose favorite comfort movie is "Snowpiercer," was I willing to watch this just because Chris Evans is in it and his acting is great? Yes, I was. Before I turned the movie on, I was pretty positive that Dakota Johnson's character (Lucy Mason) was going to end up with Chris Evans's character (John Pitts). Because even though Pedro Pascal (Harry Castillo) is in this movie, if there's one thing I know from my vague memory of early 2000s rom-coms, it's that Chris Evans is always the one who wins when he's the other side of a love triangle. It's very Team Edward vs Team Jacob... let's be honest, it was always going to be Edward and Jake never stood a real chance. Moving into the review → I prefer to jot down my thoughts right as I'm watching so these are partially in present tense and very quick jot downs (cleaned up for ease of reading).  <span class="credit">A24 /gif made by ofallingstar on tumblr</span> Beginning → The film already feels very A24 in its start. But I'm a bit confused by the opening with the vaguely prehistoric people in love. I assumed it would segue into someone making a presentation or something about like the history of love but, nope, we just hard cut straight to Lucy and NYC. It's on point thematically but kind of feels like a major disconnect in terms of me actually watching the story. I like how this is being filmed though, I'll have to look up if it's shot on digital or on film later. (it was film! 35mm) <div class="spacer"></div> 15 minutes in → I like the shots and angles so far. I don't know, it feels very campy and not trying to take itself too seriously while treating the storyline itself earnestly. That works for me so far. Harry annoyed me with his opening line... knowing he's in private equity makes so much sense. <div class="spacer"></div> 28ish minutes in → I can't lie, I know they both just have blue eyes and brown hair but Dakota and Chris just look so sibling to me that right now it's kind of weird to be expecting Lucy and John as endgame. They lowkey have the same nose too. I really like Chris's acting in this movie. He's always pretty good but I feel like his acting always gets better when he gets to do his Boston accent or close-ish somewhat Boston accent (idk, i'm not from boston to say how close it is). The little foot pop they linger on feels very stiff in the execution. Not a fan of the shot. John has a car in NYC? In this economy? Look, he might be a potentially failed actor/crappy catering waiter but I have to admit he's not an entire bum like I initially thought. I understand that Lucy reading stats because she's a matchmaker falls in line with the concept of materialists. But, it's not really giving "don't be a materialist" and just reads as the "don't be judgmental" instead. <div class="spacer"></div> 35 minutes in → I find myself fluctuating between enjoying this movie and not really caring for the message. So far, the message feels more like "caring a little about any finances automatically is materialistic." But in reality, it's a certain type of mindset surrounding finances that is the issue. Most people aren't obsessed with money in a "I must date a billionaire" way. Most people are concerned about finances relating purely to stability. And in this day and age the monetary number for stability is rather high for just a single person. It's rather obvious that broke-man propaganda isn't the aim of the movie but it sometimes feels like it is teetering rather close to the line there. However this is a 2-hour movie so there is still time to refine the message. John not going up to Lucy's flat just because she offered? Okay, I see you, John (yes, it's the bare minimum... leave me alone). If we keep going this route with his character then I won't even be too upset with how simple they might be making this "materialist/materialistic" message. I do appreciate that Lucy's clients aren't all great people. I think this falls more in line with the overall theme of the movie. The quick cycling through of her male clients being trash and having what they probably think is standards but is really just an obnoxious grocery list to fuel their ego is nice. <div class="spacer"></div> HARRY DRINKS 8 TO 10 DRINKS A WEEK??!! I'm just going to leave that there. <div class="spacer"></div> Lucy and Harry's 1st Date → Harry got Lucy a bouquet of red carnations after Date #1... Carnations mean: deep love, my heart aches/yearns for you Maybe it's just me but to receive flowers with that meaning after only one date with someone who I didn't know previously as a friend or even an aquaintance feels very close to love-bombing. Red roses? Okay. Sure the meaning is a bit deeper but roses are such a standard that we can ignore the language of flowers. But to go out of your way for red carnations... it's a bit much. Alright, I might not trust Mr. Private Equity Man but Harry calling back to Lucy referring to matchmaking as being a moritician and asking her "how am I as a corpse" is absolutely adorable. Aww, he made her breakfast. 1 point to Private Equity Man. A small point. I have beef with private equity so I can only give Harry small wins. <div class="spacer"></div> Lucy's Client → Normally most assault plot lines aren't done well. Even ones that actually properly serve the plot or make sense can sometimes feel gratuitous. However, this one doesn't feel that way. Probably because we don't see it and the point is more on Lucy wanting to make sure her client (Sophie) is okay. I appreciate that really the focus is on Lucy feeling technically responsible for this because she set up the date even though it is impossible to control others' actions and she had no clue this man was awful. <div class="spacer"></div> Past The Halfway Point? → NO! SHE BROUGHT HARRY TO GO SEE JOHN'S PLAY! I feel secondhand embarrassment and want to leave. (I'd like to point out that I watched this at home in my room. At no point did I have to put myself through this and could have fast-forwarded) In regards to the materialistic message, now that we are showing Lucy's problematic women clients, I feel like the movie's specific critique on materialism has less to do with money and more to do with everything that isn't a person's character/personality. And, yes, how they handle money is part of that but it's not the whole aspect. That is a message I don't hate and can actually get behind. <div class="spacer"></div> Back to Lucy's Client → The route we're taking with Sophie confronting Lucy falls flat to me. I totally understand what the movie is going for, it just doesn't work for me. Lucy going to apologize makes sense due to her guilt spiral. But no one knew this man was an assaulter and it's more than obvious that if he showed even an inkling of being a creep then Lucy wouldn't have allowed him to go on a date with Sophie -- or probably any of her clients. So the confrontation and Sophie calling Lucy a pimp just doesn't read very strongly to me. <div class="spacer"></div> Definitely Somewhere Around 1 hour 30 minutes, Maybe → The phone call between Lucy and John is throwing me off so badly. Again, great acting from both Dakota and Chris. Chemistry isn't bad. But they just look like siblings. Not an obnoxious blowout breakup between Lucy and Harry. I can appreciate the maturity and just difference from other rom-com stories. It's also nice because these characters are in their 30s. We don't need to be nasty yelling for every single breakup. However, John saying "I can't help but see you old with kids that look like you" kind of dampens the mood for me. I say this as a woman who is totally okay with having kids in the future should it happen but can movies just let more couples have child-free fantasies in their rom-coms. They don't all have to want kids or picture kids. It's alright. While I do love that Lucy called herself out on being judgmental, it feels like we are moving back into the concept of "I'm materialistic because I broke up with you solely because you're broke." When in reality, Lucy ended it with John because lack of finances put them both in stressful mindsets and created a lifestyle result that was going to be incompatible for them. Yes, being broke is a factor but there is a difference. <div class="spacer"></div> Ending → The fact that John is going to work a real serving job, ask for a raise, work commercial acting jobs very much proves the fact that money does matter and that it's not materialistic to consider it. Because it's not money in the sense of be a multi-millionaire or stay lonely. It's about having a certain amount of stability for you and your partner to be able to properly care for yourselves and each other. I'm so glad they didn't go the route of Lucy resigning... spoke too soon. If she wanted to go back to acting or something then okay that's fine. Or even if she just wasn't okay after Sophie was assaulted then okay. But Sophie decided to be her client again so that option is out. And the joke of her just marrying some poor dude and doing nothing falls so flat. Much like how I wish movies would let couples just have a child-free fantasy, please let the leading lady also just like her job and keep it while getting her man. <div class="spacer"></div> Final Thoughts: The overall theme of the movie is solid. At least, the theme that the movie actually gives us on screen through character actions. That idea seems to get lost in bits of dialogue (as well as a lot of pre-release promo stuff such as trailers) due to its own phrasing of materialist/materialism. The actual message that "Materialists" tells is much better than whatever message it wanted to tell. And honestly, thank goodness for that. This movie was a 4 stars for me up until the very end with the resigning bit. So my final verdict is 3.5 stars. I don't know if it is worth buying a physical copy but I will definitely purchase a digital copy rather than renting again (or worse, having it bounce from streaming service to streaming service). Once again, it's a good movie for a rainy day in spring when the weather is colder than it should be. It's also a perfect background movie if you want something on while working but that doesn't insult your intelligence by over-explaining or dumbing things down because it assumes you aren't fully paying attention/watching.

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I was thinking about why Astarion and Wyll hit it off right away and are pretty good companions. The whole monster vs. monster hunter thing should mean they have a constant distate for each other like Shadowheart and Lae'zel. But they don't. Instead, they are like snarky old people that been friends for a while or siblings annoyed with each other. I think it's because Astarion sees his mortal self in Wyll. And Wyll very quickly understands how Astarion became the person he is today because it's a path Wyll is starting to go down. Follow me, walk with me here... <div class="intiny"> (let me cook!) </div> I don't think Astarion was a corrupt magistrate. Personally, even if a particular scene involving Ansur didn't lend evidence to my thought, I would still believe this. I mean, think about it. Corrupt magistrate becomes a monster and learns better after being abused is so boring. Tired trope, yawn, next. I think it's compelling if Astarion did his job perfectly. Not that he was a good person just that he's perfectly normal in his mortal life. Not too good and righteous but not bad either. And that's the problem. <div class="spacer"></div> It would be interesting if Astarion as a magistrate refuses to let his personal anecdotes, life experience, or bias enter his courtroom. He's there to administer the law. And that is all he will do to a fault. He cannot be swayed by anything even when he probably should. If it is against the law then it is against the law. He will dole out the proper punishment and that is that. If you want to appeal then you do it through the proper legal system and he will hear you out because that's his job. But he doesn't want to hear anything outside of that. *You stole bread to feed your family?* Petty theft and not malicious, pay a fine or spend a few days in jail. *You broke something in someone's store but can prove it was an accident?* Buy the broken item and the store owner needs to get out of his court. *You think someone stole your customers through defamation of your business?* No proof, no witnesses, then he doesn't care if your ledgers show a significant drop right when the other business opened. A follower of the law so rigidly that it's a fault. <div class="spacer"></div> <div class="intiny"> And maybe this method of operation is working for him... until the Gur and Cazador. </div> <div class="spacer"></div> The Gur have been noticing their children going missing and have great reason to believe it's Cazador(Astarion isn't Cazador's first spawn but one of his firsts so probably the 2nd or 3rd spawn created by my buest guess of canon timeline. so all the children being taken are from the one or two spawn created before him). Astarion agrees to listen to their case because missing children is a big deal. But there simply isn't enough proof that it is Cazador. There's not really any proof aside from the missing children. What if Astarion didn't give any sort of verdict either way? No arrest of Cazador but no dismissal of the case either. That would be a concern to someone like Cazador. The Gur on one side and Astarion on the other would be a two-front battle that would more than likely have him lose. So, he plans on killing two birds with one stone (because everything in game heavily hints that he totally sent the Gur to get Astarion and beat him to near death). <div class="spacer"></div> Fast forward through the years of abuse and lack of autonomy all the way up until the nautiloid. Astarion has learned that following the law exactly got him in this mess. Being a good person isn't real because good people (like Cazador who saved him) always want something and will turn out to be bad in the end. Not a single god, good or evil, cared to help him so he should stop praying. He also learned punishments don't always fit the crime -- down to the fact that some people get punished for a crime they never committed -- therefore all criminals should be punished to the highest degree to deter them and others. <div class="spacer"></div> <div class="ttbv"> what does that have to do with wyll? </div> When Astarion meets Wyll, I feel like the only thing he can see is an idealistic version of his mortal self. Wyll is so determined to bring justice, serve the law to criminals, be a hero. Even with his faults and issues, at his core, Wyll Ravengard is a good and optimistic man. But Astarion knows what the ending looks like for good men. And in real time, we see Wyll learn the same lesson Astarion did all those years ago. Especially in regards to Karlach. Really, Wyll learned this a while ago when his dad threw him out but the way he talks about it kind of hints that he didn't receive this lesson at that time. Astarion and Wyll are mirrors. Wyll is Astarion. Mizora is his Cazador. Duke Ravengard is his Gur. Being turned into a tiefling/devil is his vampirism. <div class="spacer"></div> And when Wyll's entire world view is shattered after sparing Karlach, he understands Astarion now. But also, a small beauty is that Wyll will never get as dark in his thoughts as Astarion. Not because he's more optimistic or strong-willed. But because Astarion is in his traveling party. He sees Astarion improve as the game goes on. And not just Astarion. All companions -- including Tav -- are just trying their best after being dealt some shitty cards. And I think that probably keeps Wyll going. Both Wyll and Astarion can accept that good does still exist in the world every time Tav/Resist!Durge refuses to give up on them. And Wyll knows that it means he's right. Good and heroism does exist and because of that Wyll can start to accept the shit that happened to him because he already has confirmation that he'll be fine and make it out in the end. And on the flip side, Astarion can accept that he was kind of wrong. Not every good in the world is false or comes with a catch or will sour. <div class="spacer"></div> I really like that so many of the companions are mirrors to each other or puzzle pieces for each other. The way Wyll and Astarion work is one of my favorite companion mirroring. Idk, I just love them.

I am super excited for this new album!