Materialists is rickety stuff, buckling from beginning to end beneath its maker’s weighty aspirations.

Filmmaker Celine Song dons a metaphorical technician’s coat, does a chemistry test on three gorgeous movie stars—Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal—and then waits for the lab results. Sad to say, the romcom fizz didn’t make it.

Materialists lacks the satisfyingly drawn characters of Austen, the elegant wit and spite of the screwballs -- and the chewy complexity and formal brio of the exquisite Past Lives.

Song now offers a more practical, almost hangover-like, look at how the human need to connect has transformed into a personalized luxury item. [Full review in Spanish]