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MATERIALISTS
Materialists is an exhausting examination of the broke-man dick psychosis induced by wading through the dating pool’s waters. What explanation is there for a successful Manhattan matchmaker (Dakota Johnson), who explicitly wants a wealthy man, to even consider choosing between “achingly” wealthy finance bro Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal), with his old money lineage and $12 million apartment, and her starving artist ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans) who’s attending the same wedding she is, but as a waiter. Aspiring theater actor John’s roommates are so filthy that one leaves out a used condom on the floor of their shared kitchen. How could anyone, especially someone as cognizant of marriage’s transactional arrangement as a professional matchmaker, abandon their criteria for a suitable “nursing home buddy” in the name of “love on the table,” especially in this economy? Materialists feels like propaganda against the women-led movement to choose themselves over someone’s dusty son. But broke-boy propaganda aside, Materialists takes several other confusing turns, like a baffling sexual assault subplot and the most insane callback scene to recall leg-lengthening surgery. That all said, Materialists is absolutely a girls’ night gem. Johnson offers probably the closest millennial women have gotten to witnessing a chic heroine girlbossing through New York City since our sovereign mother Carrie Bradshaw. R. JAGGER BLAEC. Cinema 21, Laurelhurst Theater, Studio One Theaters, AMC, Cinemark and Regal locations.
THE LIFE OF CHUCK
Soren Kierkegaard once said life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards. Writer-director Mike Flanagan tests this theory in The Life of Chuck, adapting one of Stephen King’s less-chilling works into an oddly charming existentialist fable. Told in reverse chronological order, the film begins at the end—not just of the story, but of the world. A series of deadly global catastrophes weigh heavy on Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Felicia (Karen Gillan), but amid all the chaos and dread, the universe appears to be taking time to thank Chuck Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) for his 39 years of service. Who is Chuck and what makes him so special? That’s the question that drives the movie’s back half. The answers aren’t always clear and conclusive. Instead, Flanagan highlights the emotions of Chuck’s story—his fascination with Walt Whitman’s poetry, his love of dance, and the tragedies and fears that defined his youth. The vagueness of the story’s final beats may put off some viewers looking for certainty in the film’s mysteries, but for those looking for a spark of magic amid the chaos of our own mortality, The Life of Chuck is a welcome escape from and a joyous appreciation of all the ups and downs that life has to offer. R. MORGAN SHAUNETTE. Living Room Theaters, AMC, Cinemark and Regal locations.
ECHO VALLEY
The latest entry in the canon of films in which Julianne Moore is found openly weeping is Echo Valley, a lukewarm thriller co-starring Sydney Sweeney. The sobbing arrives as Moore’s character, Kate, a horse trainer living alone on a rapidly crumbling farm, remembers the good times with her recently deceased partner and faces the bad times of having a drug-addled, manipulative daughter (Sweeney) who shows up one fateful night with a dead body in her car. Mom snaps into action, cleaning up yet another of her kid’s messes and setting the wheels in motion for an illogical, fitfully entertaining vehicle for Moore’s expressive, tear-streaked face. As you count down the minutes until the next teardrop falls and Echo Valley takes another unnecessary twist, bide your time through the draggy bits by enjoying the nice supporting work by Domnhall Gleeson as a nasty drug dealer and Fiona Shaw as Kate’s boundlessly supportive fellow lesbian farmer, and Kyle MacLachlan making a three-course meal out of his lone scene as Kate’s beleaguered ex-husband. Or distract yourself from the plot holes by trying to spot the various Apple products scattered throughout the film. The sponcon may be subtle, but once you see it, it’s hard to miss. R. ROBERT HAM. AppleTV+; Cinemagic, June 18–19.
And playing on the small screen...
THE KOLLECTIVE
The international journalistic thriller series The Kollective follows more than just espionage. The personal drama of a loose global network of freelance and citizen reporters plays out alongside their investigation of corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Dutch production is inspired by the real-world collective Bellingcat, which I can’t imagine greenlighting a thousand bucks on barely useful unverified information or (deep sigh) seducing sources for information. The two Bellingcat reporters I worked alongside in 2020 are characters in their own rights, but not as The Kollective imagines them (how many times can you talk about cat femboys per episode, they would ask). The production holds a deep and immediately apparent respect for journalism, skillfully visualizing dull computer work, and the show’s pacing picks up after a slow introduction. It’s a shame, then, when The Kollective falls back on tired tropes to advance an otherwise well-written and -acted plot. Yes, exposing what people in power don’t want out there can be exciting, but as my former editor once said, it’s often exceedingly boring. Maybe rookie mistakes are meant to insert the inexperienced viewer into the geopolitical suspense, but my Bellingcat colleagues wouldn’t enter a hostile field without a local guide or jump into an unfamiliar car after their peers were killed and “just figure out a plan together.” The future of journalism these reporters are not, but at least they make for some watchable television. TV-MA. ANDREW JANKOWSKI. AppleTV+, Hulu.