Since my wife and I first met 13 years ago this week, we’ve had two things in common: we’re madly in love with one another, and we love going to the movies together. Big movies, small movies, happy movies, sad movies; it doesn’t matter, we’ve seen it all together. So, when we found out the Materialists, Celine Song’s follow-up to Past Lives, was taking up a spot on the 2025 movie schedule, we found a babysitter and went to the local theater.
Going in, I heard the movie was loved by critics (CinemaBlend’s own Riley Utley gave it a five-star review), and so I had a feeling this was going to be one of the best rom-coms in quite some time, with its love triangle involving characters played by Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. And it was. We loved it. However, when the poignant Materialists end credits scene hit with a very specific song, my wife and I had an emotional and personal experience that we’ll never forget…
Materialists’ End Credits Scene Is Charming And Incredibly Unique
There have been some great non-MCU end credits scenes over the years (though those Marvel stingers are great, for the most part), and I will say that the sequence that plays on the screen during the credits for Materialists is near or at the top of that list.
The fixed security camera showing Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and John (Chris Evans) among a sea of other New Yorkers tying the knot at a busy courthouse is both charming and unique in its presentation. Writer and director Celine Song could have totally given these two a more focused and personal wedding sequence, but honestly, this is the best way to wrap up their unorthodox romance.
But Then John Prine’s ‘In Spite Of Ourselves’ Started Playing
Just when I thought the sequence couldn’t get any better, I heard the familiar and unforgettable opening of John Prine and Iris Dement’s 1999 duet, “In Spite of Ourselves,” take over the speakers. My wife and I, standing near the exit of the now completely empty theater, embraced, started crying, and laughed as the three-and-a-half-minute song about a couple in love with each other in spite of all their weird quirks and bad habits played on while Chris Evans and Dakota Johnson’s characters walked off screen.
Writing about it now has me both laughing and crying as I recount a memory that, despite being only a few days old, has quickly become one of my favorite and most personal experiences with my wife.
This Song, Which Perfectly Sums Up The Movie, Has Become Our Anthem In Recent Years
With a chorus that goes, “In spite of ourselves, we’ll end up a’sittin’ on a rainbow; against all odds, honey, we’re the big door prize,” this classic from the late songwriter perfectly sums up Materialists. Lucy and John, knowing that being together doesn’t make sense financially or psychologically, throw caution to the wind with those “big old hearts dancin’ in our eyes.”
More importantly, “In Spite of Ourselves” has become an anthem for my wife and me in recent years. It’s a song that helps us remember what’s important when we get lost in the madness, chaos, and uncertainty of life. As I always tell her, “Honey, we’re the big door prize.”
So, what’s the moral of the story? Well, it has to be to stick around until the credits are finished. Not only are you honoring the hard work hundreds or thousands of people put into something, but you could also have an experience like this.
