A Chris Evans And Pedro Pascal Movie That American Audiences Ignored Hit A Major Box Office Milestone

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Did you go and see "Materialists," the second movie from Academy Award-nominated writer and director Celine Song? Honestly, based on the movie's box office haul over the last few months, the answer is probably no. Even with that said, the A24 movie just achieved a surprising milestone at said box office, becoming the first independent movie of 2025 to make over $100 million at the worldwide box office.

With a combined haul of $36 million at the domestic box office and $64 million internationally, "Materialists" quite neatly cracked $100 million (according to the box office website The Numbers). With that said, $36 million at the domestic box office is sort of ... nothing to write home about, but apparently, international audiences were more interested in the film, which stars Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans, with Zoë Winters, Marin Ireland, and Louisa Jacobson in pivotal supporting roles.

This is Song's sophomore effort after her directorial debut in 2023, "Past Lives," which is still largely considered to be the better of the two films. In that movie, which picked up a writing nomination for Song, a best actress nod for her lead actress Greta Lee, and a best picture nomination, Lee's Nora Moon reconnects with a boy she once loved in her childhood in South Korea (Teo Yoo's Hae Sung). With Nora now in New York and married to fellow playwright Arthur Zaturansky (John Magaro), Nora must decide between her past and her future. Honestly? "Materialists" sticks to this same format, in a way. (Spoilers for "Materialists" follow — you've been warned!)

When we first meet Dakota Johnson's "Materialists" protagonist Lucy Mason, she's a wildly successful professional matchmaker at Adore in New York City who proudly and stubbornly remains single, despite her line of work — and even tells people around her that she plans to marry a rich man or die a spinster. (The whole thing is, frankly, very Jane Austen-coded.) While attending the wedding of one of her happy clients, Lucy meets the groom's brother Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal), a wealthy businessman who immediately shows interest in Lucy. Under the guise of bringing him on board as a client, Lucy starts spending more time with Harry as he woos her, and despite her attempts to convince him that she's an unsuitable partner for such an eligible bachelor, Harry ultimately convinces her to officially date him.

While all of this is going on, Lucy has a run-in with her ex-boyfriend John Finch (Chris Evans), a struggling actor who's working as a cater waiter at the very wedding where Lucy and Harry meet. Even though John and Lucy's breakup years before the narrative of "Materialists" begins was distinctly awful for both of them, it quickly becomes clear that John still has feelings for Lucy, and she might even feel the same way. Lucy and Harry ultimately split over a genuinely shocking revelation — more on that later — and when John and Lucy attend an upstate wedding and then help Lucy's client Sophie (Zoë Winters) out of a scary situation, their bond deepens. So how does the movie conclude?

Let's circle back, briefly, to Lucy and Harry and exactly how and why their relationship ends. As things get more serious between them and they start planning trips together, Lucy finds an engagement ring in his suitcase before a trip to Iceland and worries that she's not truly in love with him. Lucy confronts him and learns something genuinely shocking. Earlier in the film, Lucy and her colleagues discuss the fact that some men are getting tibial lengthening surgery to become taller and, as a result, become better prospects as far as dating is concerned; as it turns out, both Harry and his brother got the surgery, and he tells Lucy the truth. It doesn't change how Lucy feels about Harry as a person, but she also realizes, in this moment, that she simply doesn't love Harry as she should, and the two part ways.

Frankly, what the movie should have done is pair up Harry, who Lucy keeps describing as a "unicorn" because he's such a great catch, with the wronged Sophie, but that's unfortunately besides the point. After her relationship with Harry ends, Lucy returns to John, only for him to resist a reunion because he no longer trusts that her desire for a more upscale life — one that he can't afford — doesn't outweigh whatever love she feels for him. Ultimately, John realizes that Lucy isn't lying and loves him, and the two get back together to conclude this romantic drama.

Again, the leg-lengthening surgery turn in this movie is bonkers, but all in all, "Materialists" is a pretty good time, even if it doesn't quite match the heights of "Past Lives." Despite its recent box office milestone, the movie is now available on streaming, and you can rent or buy it on major platforms like Amazon.