The Love Triangle Is Alive And Well In 2025

The rom-com renaissance continues with another anticipated rom-com trailer drop. This time, it’s Celine Song’s collaboration with A24, Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal.

The trailer for the movie dropped recently, giving a glimpse at the story of a matchmaker who is torn between her perfect match and her imperfect ex. The movie has all the elements of a good rom-com: good-looking leads, a catchy soundtrack, a fun montage and (the best of all), a love triangle.

Why Are We Obsessed With Love Triangles?

Love triangles are, perhaps, the oldest plot device in movies, books and TV shows. Take Jane Austen’s bibliography, for instance. Her novel’s protagonists often found themselves torn between two men, eventually going with the virtuous of the two (hello, Mr. Darcy). Then there are the more popular ones that define a whole generation. Remember the ship wars from Twilight and The Hunger Games?

How many friendships were lost in the impassioned debates between the virtues of Bella choosing Team Edward over Team Jacob? Or how there was a minor (very minor) sect of fans who wanted Katniss to go for tall, handsome and brooding Gale over adorable, talented, caring, knows-how-to-make-bread-and-decorate-cakes Peeta?

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A good love triangle is not only a compelling plot device, but it also drives engagement and a feeling of community among the readers or viewers. Take the divisive fan politics of The Vampire Diaries. Like its less edgy counterpart Twilight, The Vampire Diaries also had love triangles (Team Stelena and Team Delena, or the wonderful Klaroline vs Steroline) that drove some of the main conflicts in the show.

Closer to home, romantic movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kapoor and Sons, Dil To Pagal Hai, Manmarziyan, Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon, and Student of the Year, had a central love triangle as the main plot driver. 

Celine Song’s previous collaboration with A24, Past Lives, was also centred around a protagonist who finds herself confronting the choices she has made and contemplating her relationship with her current partner. In Materialists, Dakota Johnson’s character has to choose between a guy who seems perfect for her (he lives in a $12 million apartment in New York City and looks like, well, Pedro Pascal) and her ex-boyfriend (who is a waiter and lives in a small apartment with rude roommates but who also looks like Chris Evans). Since polyamorous relationships are not stuff mainstream rom-coms are made of (yet), the resolution is most likely going to feature the girl picking one (or none) of the guys.

Our continued fascination with love triangles could be because we tend to project ourselves into the narrator of whatever we’re viewing or reading. Being desired by two people at once is a heady feeling but it also presents an opportunity to reflect on your own motivations. Who would we choose: The person who checks all the boxes on our ‘ideal partner’ list or someone who might not be the right match for you at the outset but has a strong connection with you regardless?

Reddit user Primary-Friend 7615 accurately sums this up in a comment on a thread on the Romance Novels subreddit when they wrote, “In a well-written story, the dual love interests represent more than just 2 attractive people and the character being indecisive - they represent choices between paths in life, where 1 potential partner represents the status who, and the other represents a change.”

As messy and heartbreaking as these love triangles are, we sure will be tuning in this Summer to watch how it all plays out in Materialists. What do you think?