Materialists and Metro In Dino: Two films look at modern romance embedded in labels, longing, and love-ships!

Celine Song’s Materialists and Anurag Basu’s Metro In Dino coincidentally form an unlikely duo that captures the messiness of modern love on screen like never before!

We live in times where everyone’s talking about freeing themselves from labels. And in that accord, individualism is moving at a fast pace toward a tag-free zone. Yet, strangely enough, when it comes to our relationships, the “ships” we sail into hoping to find love, we’ve never relied on tags as much as we do now. Look at the different ways we’ve found to categorize ourselves into! Situationship - there’s a connection but no commitment, whatever they call just playful flirting, then there's simply attraction that's driven purely by desire. Oh! Also the kind of situation where people turn to each other to fix problems. And then we come down to partnership, often an umbrella for open relationships or friends-with-benefits and finally the kind of relationships where love is measured in give-and-take. 

We're navigating through deep waters with all these, often forgetting the most important one of all - a relationship. The one that may begin in any of the above, but needs intention, effort, choice and a mix-match all of these to truly stay afloat. No wonder why, especially today, so many of us are drawn back to rom-coms. Not just for nostalgia, but for new reflections. We want stories that explore what it really means to love in today’s world, in times when we’ve forgotten and are stuck with juggling so many balls, trying to find balance. And yet, so many films still miss the mark. They mock these modern labels or oversimplify them. Sure, the more terms we invent, the more complicated things seem but maybe they also help us understand and navigate the turbulent waters of romance. And that is where Materialists and Metro In Dino come in, two recent films that sparked more conversation about love than about whether people liked them or not, making it clear that they truly understand modern romance.

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Amazingly, both films remind us that the idea of love hasn’t changed over time; it's just that people have changed with time. And with that comes different expressions of the same emotion. Celine Song and Anurag Basu probably didn’t intend to echo each other, but with both films, one unfolding on a global stage and the other rooted more locally, arriving just months apart, one thing is clear that modern love, whether here or anywhere else, isn’t all that different. It just wears new clothes but deep down, we still crave the same thing we always have - to be swept up in love, in all its imperfect, glorious chaos!

Materialists explore love in a capitalist world, where even romance can feel transactional. It draws a parallel between ancient trade (men went hunting, women stayed back) and modern dating, where we’re constantly trading the idea of a “perfect love” in our head with the flawed-but-real people right in front of us. Lucy isn’t just choosing between broke-but-genuine John and unicorn-but-distant Harry. She’s choosing what she wants from life - a love story that sounds great when told, or one that feels real, even if it’s messy. And her decision reminds us that love is never perfect, it’s just about choosing who you’re willing to struggle with.

Metro In Dino takes that thought further. It tells us love isn't about choosing once. It’s about choosing someone again and again, not because you have to out of obligation, but because one wants to out of desire. Across its many stories, the film shows how love shifts across ages and phases, going from teenage butterflies to the quiet comfort of old age. It questions what it means to fall in love, what it takes to hold on to it, and what happens when love meets paradoxes- what if you find “the one” when you’re already with someone else? Or do you stop yourself from even looking once you’ve committed? It’s about learning the art of letting go and staying in, where they aren’t separate but travel in the same boat.

Also Read: Here’s proof that Metro In Dino has become the janta’s favourite fun watch at the cinemas!

Even though Materialists is a meditation on love filtered through capitalism where math, ambition, and image shape our choices yet love is something that still manages to beat the odds, Metro In Dino is a musical journey where love isn't about finding the perfect tune, it's learning to dance to the ever-changing rhythm. But at their core, both films dive into love in its most real form that is messy, complicated, healing, heartbreaking, sometimes a little toxic and yet deeply human. They show us that red flags and green flags aren’t just about what we want or what is lacking in someone, rather it is what is being offered by someone and whether that fits for us. Because no matter which type of relationship you’re in, the navigation is always in your hands. You just have to choose between the idea in your head and the reality in front of you! 

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