Materialists quickly establishes the common trope of a love triangle involving a rich guy and a poor guy and lays out the predictable plot line right in front of you.

There is a sub plot that I found quite interesting but carelessly handled, and there is a bit of charm in there that had me on board in moments, but the script is very bad and had me cringing in multiple monologues. Not the biggest fan of the three leads but don’t think any of them were bad. This just doesn’t stack up with Past Lives in any way.

What a film debut for Spielberg this is. While you can tell it’s stripped back on production, and even in its story, Spielberg showcases his talent from the very jump. 

A very simple cat and mouse chase between two vehicles on a long journey is made tense and entertaining thanks to its shot selection and camerawork. Of course it could’ve done with some extra layers or subplots, but for a 90 minute film this was fun to watch.