Director Celine Song sat down with Variety to talk about her new movie Materialists, love, dating and more. Song made her directorial debut with Past Lives in 2023. The movie received a successful box office opening and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Her sophomore movie is also off to a good start with a $12 million opening at the box office.
Song does not only make romantic dramas, but she is also a fan of the genre. On Instagram, A24 posted Song’s favorite romantic dramas that inspired Materialists. The list includes Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Sense & Sensibility, Phantom Thread, Emma, Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and more.
She said, “I’m just interested in love as a universal theme, and I believe that human feelings and human connections are worthy of cinema. Of course, so much of that belief came from those movies and those stories that I’ve always been really obsessed with.”
The movie also drew inspiration from Song’s life, as she was a matchmaker at one time, like the protagonist in the movie. She did this for six months and learned a lot about people and dating. She expanded that the first question often asked by matchmakers is about what the person is looking for when dating. However, Song thinks the most important question is “What makes you feel loved?” Like, “Tell me a scenario where you could feel that you were loved and that you were inspired to do the same.”
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