‘Materialists’ raises debate over women’s supposed broke man phobia

Film history is replete with love triangles in which the woman chooses her less-monied suitor, and until now, audiences have largely applauded the choice. At the end of the day, romantic comedies have always been characterized by the belief that love conquers all.

But in 2025, many viewers are throwing up their hands upon seeing Materialists turn to a formula that apparently seems surprising, ingenuous and absurd amid the economic instability of our tumultuous world. Critics accuse the film of being a clear case of “broke man propaganda,” romanticizing men’s financial insecurity in the name of love.

A TikTok post with more than 170,000 likes argues that the rom com directed by Celine Song is “nothing but a true-to-life horror film about how trauma and low self-esteem limit women’s choices and send them spiraling back to exes they know can’t give them what they want. Women deserve financial stability AND love.”

When Song hears such critique, she becomes visibly upset. “It really is disappointing to me. Poverty is not the fault of the poor,” she said. “That is a very troubling result of the way that the wealthy people have gotten into our hearts about how it’s your fault if you’re poor, or you’re a bad person if you’re poor. It just makes me feel very concerned that anybody would talk about my movie and my characters, and to really think about it in such classist terms.”

People who want to find a partner who fulfills certain aspirational financial standards call themselves hypergamic, and according to luxury dating app Seeking, there’s a lot of them. The platform shared that 45% of its users are looking for such relationships, while only 27% prioritize finding true love. Which is to say, when asked “love or money?” its data shows that the majority prefer the latter.

Financial specialist Amalia Guerrero believes that it is dangerous to send the message that money doesn’t truly matter in relationships. “It’s a structure on which a large part of a couple’s day-to-day life is based, from paying rent to making decisions about having children. If we put out the message that money doesn’t matter, we are normalizing things that aren’t sustainable in the long term. Money is necessary. These messages reinforce the false idea that talking about money as a couple is frivolous and ends up turning it into a taboo topic,” she says.

Laura Encina, author of the Spanish-language book Tu vida, tus normas, tu cuenta bancaria (Your life, Your Rules, Your Bank Account) adds that money is one of the areas that lead to the most tension for couples. “When a couple speaks clearly about money, their goals can align and they can work together towards economic stability, which strengthens the relationship. It’s not about having a lot or a little, but rather, sharing a similar vision and rowing in the same direction. That is what makes the difference between a relationship that is united by financial challenges and one that is broken by them,” she explains.

In All About Love, bell hooks reflects on how capitalism and the patriarchy mold the way in which the world sees love, suggesting that they feed a culture of materialism and domination that stands in the way of genuine connection.

Pop culture is full of examples that romanticize the figure of the man without financial resources, such as Timbaland’s song The Way I Are. “Ain’t got no money / I ain’t got no car to take you on a date / I can’t even buy you flowers / But together we’d be the perfect soulmates,” he sings on the track. “I ain’t go no Visa / I ain’t got no Red American Express / We can’t go nowhere exotic / It don’t matter ‘cause I’m the one that loves you best.”

During an appearance at Atlántida Mallorca Film Fest, Song herself commented that Materialists speaks to the commodification and objectification of human beings, something that matchmaker Lucy, played by Dakota Johnson, has fun with, particularly at the beginning of the film.

But the director added that it concerned her that people empathized more with the monied character played by Pedro Pascal than Chris Evans’s struggling actor, saying, “it’s harder for people to see themselves in him than the man who has a $12 million apartment.” Song said her goal was not to romanticize the man without economic resources and applaud true and supposedly moral love, but rather to reflect on the way in which, for many people, romantic relationships have become transactions in which the other person is a mere object.

But when addressing the broke status of Evans’s character, it’s important to consider the factors behind his delicate financial situation. “The focus should not be solely on the fact that someone has no money, but on the story behind that financial situation,” says Guerrero. “Because money is not just a number, it’s a reflection of the habits, beliefs and decisions that a person has made throughout their life. And indeed, there are people who are going through difficult times due to structural causes, lack of opportunities, bereavement, job insecurity and so on. But there are also those who have had opportunities but have wasted them time and time again due to a lack of financial education.”

He continues: “What really matters in a relationship is not just your bank account balance, but your attitude towards money. One person may be going through a rough patch but is looking for solutions, learning, taking charge and accepting responsibility, while another may be in the same situation for years and expects their partner to solve their problems. It’s important to take on that responsibility. It’s not about judging whether someone has money or not, but about seeing if there is a commitment and a mindset to improve and want to get out of that situation. That is, to take responsibility for themselves. And that’s really what will build a healthy couple with a future,” says the financial expert.

“In a relationship, the important thing is not so much the salary level itself, but rather the vision that each person has of money,” adds Encina. “If one is looking for stability and the other lives more precariously with no intention of changing, that’s where the clash comes in. The problem is not the lack of money, but the lack of a common goal.”

“The question is how can a romantic film, and I believe my movie is so romantic, talk about finance so much? My answer would always be, well, that’s true in every Jane Austen book,” said Song. Sense and sensibility matter, but so does money — and it seems that in times of Tinder and economic stability, even more so.

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