SPOILERS: This column contains spoilers for the film “The Wrong Paris.”
What happens when you find the right person, just in the wrong place? Netflix attempts to answer this question with their latest rom-com, “The Wrong Paris,” which premiered Sept. 12. While the film might not be a standout addition to the romance genre, “The Wrong Paris” is the right choice for your next movie night.
The film follows Dawn (Miranda Cosgrove), a young artist from a small town in Texas intent on pursuing her dreams of art school in France. When the financial challenges in her way seem to be solved with an application to hit dating show “The Honey Pot,” Dawn is quick to apply. However, her plans backfire when the reality show reveals their show destination is actually Paris, Texas, not Paris, France. But even in the wrong place, Dawn just might find the right person.
I have seen my fair share of bad rom-coms from Netflix. I’ve sat through movies with insane plot lines like the 2024 film “Hot Frosty.” I’ve wasted time on predictable plots like in “La Dolce Villa” which was released on Netflix in February. All that’s to say I am typically able to spot a bad rom-com from a mile away, but I have never misjudged a film as badly as I did “The Wrong Paris.”
Now, I’m not going as far as to say this movie was perfect. It played out like your typical rom-com does with a little too many over-the-top characters and cliches. Plus, the main conflict seemed to rely on the characters miscommunicating to an almost aggressive degree.
The whole film is centered around Dawn trying to chase her dream of attending art school in Paris, France, while also fighting the growing feelings she has for rugged but rich cowboy Trey (Pierson Fodé), the bachelor on “The Honey Pot.” But while every other woman on the fictional dating show is instantly obsessed with winning Trey’s heart, at first, Dawn couldn't care less. She even goes as far as to ask him to eliminate her first when she realizes the show won’t be filming in France.
It’s his stubbornness to keep her in the game and win her over, coupled with her refusal to tell him why she wants to leave that causes the major conflict in the movie, when Trey realizes that no matter what happens between them, Dawn is moving to France. I realize that this is just the way conflicts in rom-coms work but it's a problem that felt easily avoidable to me.
The writers tried to throw in more obstacles for the couple by including the threat of Dawn being sued for fraud if she gets caught only wanting to be on the show for the chance to go to Paris, France. But, at least as a viewer, it’s obvious that she does not want to be there and that the only reason she signed up for “The Honey Pot” was because of its perceived French aspect. She says multiple times, on camera, that she wants to leave. She gets in a fight with the show's producers over the fact that they lied about where the show was set. It shouldn’t be some big reveal that she’s not there to fall in love.
Despite this infuriating excuse for a conflict, the movie was surprisingly good. I think my biggest indictment of trashy rom-coms such as this one has always been that they take themselves too seriously. As a viewer, you know this cheesy love story won’t produce the next Jack and Rose in “Titanic” or Noah and Allie from the “The Notebook.” The couples are always too cliche and surface level for that. But it always seems like the movie is working extra hard to prove you wrong and create some great, once-in-a-lifetime love, even though chances are it will never live up to those expectations.
“The Wrong Paris” seems to play into these rom-com cliches on purpose. “The Honey Pot” isn’t just your typical dating show. It’s every criticism made about the reality dating show genre and every stereotype you typically see in these sorts of shows all turned up to 100.
At the beginning of the movie, you watch Dawn’s sister, Emily (Emilija Baranac), walk Dawn through the different types of reality show “characters” she might encounter, each one more over the top than the last. It’s a ridiculous sequence but it’s hard not to laugh when you see Eve (Hannah Stocking), a contestant on “The Honey Pot” with serious baby fever, going on and on about Trey being the future father of her children.
Even the actual relationship between Dawn and Trey is done in such a way where you can tell the writers of this film weren’t looking to blow your mind with some out-of-this-world romance, they just wanted something fun.
While Cosgrove and Fode’s onscreen chemistry is very apparent throughout the film, what won me over when it came to their relationship was the way it ended.
What feels so common in rom-coms now, and what I fully expected to happen in this film, is that the main girl gives up her dreams to be with some guy. And as I watched “The Wrong Paris” and saw the couple begin to fall in love, causing a major dilemma for Dawn and her future in Paris, France, I fully expected Dawn to leave those dreams behind to pursue a relationship with Trey in Texas. So, when he asks her to choose the money so she can stay in Paris, France, while figuring out a long-distance relationship with him, to say I was happily surprised is an understatement.
It’s not a perfect film by any means but, in my opinion, Netflix has finally walked the line of cheesy rom-coms and landed on the side of films that may be bad, but cheesiness is part of the charm.
