What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedMaterialists
Celine Song · Film · 2025
If you loved Materialists, start with Every Year After (2026) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Materialists across media.
If you loved Materialists, you are drawn to the messy, high-stakes collision of professional ambition and the complicated evolution of long-term love.
Books on the same thread
Heart the Lover
Lily King · Book · 2025
Explores: Love Triangles, Academic Life, Friendship.
Like Materialists, this story navigates the friction between personal desire and the rules of life, capturing the same bittersweet realization that the best love stories rarely follow a predictable path.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin · Book · 2022
Explores: platonic soulmates, creative collaboration, game development.
Much like the protagonists in Materialists, these characters find their intimate bond tested by the pressures of their creative industry, blurring the lines between professional partnership and deep, personal connection.
Summer in the City
Alex Aster · Book
Shares a thread with Materialists: second chance romance.
This mirrors the central conflict of Materialists by placing career ambition directly in the path of a rekindled past romance, forcing a choice between the comfort of history and future goals.
Spectacular Things: Reese's Book Club
Beck Dorey-Stein · Book · 2025
Explores: Sisterhood, Sacrifice, Ambition.
Fans of the emotional stakes in Materialists will appreciate this exploration of the sacrifices required to achieve one's dreams, specifically how ambition complicates the most important relationships in our lives.
Series on the same thread
When Life Gives You Tangerines
Lim Sang-choon · Series · 2025
Explores: First Love, Childhood Sweethearts, Island Life.
If the enduring, time-tested nature of love in Materialists moved you, this narrative offers a similar perspective on how romance survives the various setbacks and triumphs of a maturing life.
Heated Rivalry
Jacob Tierney · Series · 2025
Explores: Rivalry, Forbidden Love, Career Ambition.
This story echoes the tension found in Materialists, where two people are pulled together by a magnetic force while their respective career ambitions create a barrier to their true desires.
Unchosen
Julie Gearey · Series · 2026
Explores: Forbidden Desire, Secrets and Lies, Escapism.
While darker in tone than Materialists, this drama captures the same intense, forbidden pull of a life-changing affair that forces a character to confront their deepest secrets and personal desires.
Every Year After
Series · 2026
Explores: soulmates, nostalgia, long-term relationship.
This explores the same question posed by Materialists regarding whether a past flame can truly be a soulmate, focusing on the weight of destiny and the passage of time on love.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Orphans
The Light and Tragic Company · Podcast · 2025
The sci-fi setting provides a unique backdrop for the same themes of love, loss, and the struggle to maintain human connections that ground the narrative of Materialists.
Serial
Serial Productions & The New York Times · Podcast · 2026
Explores: Justice system flaws, Legal ambiguity, Deep-dive reporting.
While a departure from fiction, the human fallibility and complex personal stakes examined here mirror the nuanced, character-driven exploration of relationships found in the world of Materialists.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Materialists a story about a professional matchmaker?
Yes, Materialists follows a young, ambitious matchmaker living in New York City. The plot centers on her personal life as she navigates a difficult choice between her current perfect match and her former partner.
What is the central conflict in Materialists?
The central conflict in Materialists involves the protagonist being torn between two romantic interests. She must decide between a man who represents a perfect match and an ex-partner who is described as imperfect.
Who directed the 2025 movie Materialists?
Materialists is a 2025 film directed by Celine Song. The movie explores the complexities of relationships through the perspective of a New York City matchmaker caught between her past and her present.
Does Materialists take place in New York City?
Yes, the events of Materialists occur in New York City. The setting provides the backdrop for the matchmaker's professional life and the personal dilemma she faces regarding her romantic future and her past relationships.