Love, and other bugs

Materialists doesn't check all the boxes, but it does champion the idea of love, and in doing so serves as an antidote to cynicism

- Deepanjana Pal

I have a deep-seated aversion to AI-generated content. Even so, watching Chris Evans deliver his heroic monologue in Materialists (2025) made me wish there was a version of Celine Song's new film in which artificial intelligence had scrubbed Evans out and replaced him with Cary Grant. Or a young Shammi Kapoor. Or Gong Yoo (of Train to Busan).

Evans is the petard on which Materialists hoists itself. He plays John, the quintessential artist: short on money, but tall in every other way. He is a man of passion and sensitivity; a man who makes love seem easy. Unfortunately, when embodied by Evans, John has all the charm of melting vanilla ice-cream.

He doesn't make one want to throw caution to the wind. Instead, he makes an excellent case for warily raising one's standards.