“Materialists,” “Too Much,” and the Modern Rom-Com

Audiences have been bemoaning the death of the romantic comedy for years, but the genre persists—albeit often in a different form from the screwballs of the nineteen-forties or the “chick flicks” of the eighties and nineties. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss their all-time favorite rom-coms and two new projects marketed as contemporary successors to the greats: Celine Song’s “Materialists” and Lena Dunham’s “Too Much.” Do these depictions of modern love—or at least the search for it—evoke the same breathless feeling as the classics do? “I wonder if the crisis in rom-coms has to do with a crisis in how adult women want to be or want to see themselves,” Schwartz says. “I think both of these projects are basically trying to speak to the fact that everyone's ideals are in question.” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Sex, Love, and the State of the Rom-Com” (The New Yorker) “Materialists” (2025) “Too Much” (2025) “Working Girl” (1988) “You’ve Got Mail” (1998) “When Harry Met Sally” (1989) “Love & Basketball” (2000) “The Best Man” (1999) “Our Romance with Jane Austen” (The New Yorker) “Girls” (2012-17) “Adam’s Rib” (1949) New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.

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Critics at Large is a weekly culture podcast from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss current obsessions, classic texts they’re revisiting with fresh eyes, and trends that are emerging across books, television, film, and more. The show runs the gamut of the arts and pop culture, with lively, surprising conversations about everything from Salman Rushdie to “The Real Housewives.” Through rigorous analysis and behind-the-scenes insights into The New Yorker’s reporting, the magazine’s critics help listeners make sense of our moment—and how we got here.