A24 is known for creating deceptive trailers for its horror films, presenting them in a way that aligns with more traditional styles, despite their edgy, unconventional nature. Now, fans of romantic comedies are experiencing a similar twist: every bit of promotion for “Materialists” has framed it as a nod to the classic rom-coms of the ’90s. However, Celine Song’s project following “Past Lives” utilizes the rom-com style to tell a more complex story. Much of “Materialists” is almost defiantly non-romantic, and while it does have comedic elements, they tend to be darker and more unsettling than anticipated.

So what exactly is “Materialists” if it’s not purely romantic or comedic? Primarily, it’s a critique of the dating industry, regarding how people are turned into commodities and reduced to data, and the cynicism this view fosters. The story centers on Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a “voluntary celibate” top-tier matchmaker who sees love as irrelevant and views her job as purely transactional. In her past, as a struggling actress, Lucy dated John (Chris Evans) but broke up with him due to his lack of wealth. In a rare moment of classic rom-com flair, she unexpectedly reunites with John — now a part-time waiter and still an aspiring actor — at the same wedding where she catches the interest of Harry (Pedro Pascal), a charismatic venture capitalist who by her matchmaking criteria, appears too ideal to pursue her.

Lucy’s matchmaking process constantly emphasizes data points such as height, weight, age, income, political views, taste, appearance, and overall “value.” When the bride she helped match expresses doubts on her wedding day, Lucy advises focusing on the marriage’s “value,” even if it’s as shallow as making her sister envious, rather than love. This cold, economic view is challenged by Harry’s acknowledgment of Lucy’s “intangible” qualities and her lingering thoughts of John — who remains highly desirable by most metrics, though his financial and living circumstances appear inadequate. The film’s sharpest comedic moments reveal Lucy’s increasingly absurd interviews with clients reflecting on her own life decisions.

Those familiar with Dakota Johnson only from the “Fifty Shades of Grey” movies and “Madame Web” often dismiss her as a “bad” actress, but that’s not fair. Her performance in “Materialists” demonstrates that she’s great in the right role. The same sense of detachment that becomes a joke when talking about spiders in the Amazon is perfectly applied when playing a character who’s meant to be shallow and uncomfortable, and when Lucy gets overwhelmed with regret for her bad choices, that’s when Johnson demonstrates her skill at depicting depression the way she’s done in films like “Cha Cha Real Smooth” and “The Lost Daughter.”

Pedro Pascal, having no such doubts to overcome from the mainstream audience, gives yet another ultra-charismatic performance as the seemingly perfect “unicorn” of a boyfriend. The movie takes its sweet time before showing any significant flaw or insecurity on Harry’s part, and when it does make such a reveal, Celine Song’s screenplay has already done the elegant work of setting up the moment so it’s handled with thorough sensitivity. As for Chris Evans, it’s great to see him doing more human-scale acting instead of more “Red One”-style franchise-bait, and the former Captain America imbues John with a strong likability, but the character never quite grows beyond mere archetype.

There are various bits of oddness to note throughout “Materialists.” There’s the surprising opening scene depicting the first engagement between two cavepeople hundreds of thousands of years ago; possible “2001: A Space Odyssey” influence? The film’s self-referentiality also stands out: John’s big performance is in a production of one of Celine Song’s own plays, “Tom and Eliza,” and the big tell for how long ago a flashback scene takes place is a billboard for another A24 film, “Eighth Grade.” Another thing that stood out, in a more negative way: the presence of Dasha Nekrasova playing one of Lucy’s co-workers at the Adore matchmaking company (I wish I didn’t recognize that name and for your sake, I sincerely hope you don’t).

There are also major plot points I don’t quite know what to make of. The film’s darkest subplot, where one of Lucy’s matches goes as wrong as you can imagine, is destined to be divisive. It’s important for the overall message, and undeniably emotionally effective — the shot where Lucy is processing her grave mistake in the foreground while her coworkers are celebrating another match through the windows behind her might be the film’s strongest composition — but I’m also not sure how realistic it is that someone in Lucy’s position had never before considered the possibility of such a thing happening.

On the opposite side of the tonal spectrum, when “Materialists” does eventually seek out a rom-com happy ending, the movie threatens to fall apart. I get why Song would consider it the “right” ending on paper, but where I felt all the film’s sadness, Lucy’s turn toward romance in the end didn’t feel convincing. It doesn’t help the chemistry that one pivotal scene building to this turn looks like the two central stars shot most of it on separate greenscreens. There’s one moment where I almost thought the movie was going to go a different route to a happy ending — I’m not sure if said different route would even be “good,” but I am thinking about it. “Materialists” never reaches the passion and beauty of Song’s debut romantic feature “Past Lives,” but it’s at its most interesting and insightful when it isn’t even trying to.

“Materialists” opens in theaters on June 13.