REVIEW: ‘The Wrong Paris’ Gets Streaming Rom-Coms Right

The Wrong Paris is the rare streaming rom-com that has an original concept and the writing to pull it off. Directed by soap opera and Netflix rom-com vet Janeen Damian and written by Nicole Henrich, a long-time producer on reality TV shows, including House Hunters, the Netflix Original rom-com imagines what might happen if somebody was on a dating show for the wrong reasons, but started falling in love anyway.

Dawn (Miranda Cosgrove) has spent her young adulthood taking care of her family, but she dreams of being an artist. She is admitted to a prestigious art school in Paris, France, but without any financial aid, she’s not sure she can make it work. Dawn’s sister (Emilija Baranac) has an idea, though. She’s obsessed with a reality dating show called “Honey Pot,” and if Dawn gets on the next season and flops out, she can pay her way through school with the appearance fee. The show is even filming in Paris, to make it all the simpler.

Except not that Paris. Dawn gets on the show, somewhat begrudgingly, only for them to reveal that they’re actually shooting in Paris, Texas, not Paris, France. An irate Dawn vows to get herself sent home as quickly as possible until she realizes who the contestants are vying for: Trey McAllen (Pierson Fodé).

The Wrong Paris makes the right move by having Dawn and Trey meet in real life before the show starts.

The absolute smartest move that The Wrong Paris makes is having Dawn and Trey meet before the show. Just after the auditions, Dawn meets Trey at a bar where she’s immediately taken by him, and he by her. They don’t exchange names, and neither knows they’re both involved in the show. She just thinks he’s swell, and he is impressed when Dawn throws a slimy dude out of the bar for being rude to her and her sister.

Because they get to meet beforehand and show clear chemistry from the get, it’s far more charming when the contestants show up at Trey’s ranch and Dawn has to fight her every instinct not to fall in love with Trey. She can’t admit the truth about being there for the money, or she risks being sued by the network. But she can’t admit she’s falling for him either, because she needs to win her money and get to France before school starts.

The Wrong Paris combines a straightforward approach with the occasional intercutting of reality TV confessionals, as if you were watching clips from the show they’re filming. The blend never becomes tacky. It’s mainly used for comedic relief, rather than as a plot vehicle. But the lilt of creativity keeps the affair lively when some of the reality TV components feel dull.

The Wrong Paris is a solid takedown of vapid influencer culture.

“Honey Pot” doesn’t seem like a very good show. Not only are the contestants utterly vapid and clearly uninterested in Trey as a person, but the contests are also somewhat underwhelming. This is a shame, but it’s also somewhat intentional. The contestants are all jokingly montaged at the beginning of The Wrong Paris to demonstrate the archetypes of people who are usually on the show. And clearly, the production team is not the best in the business, or else Dawn wouldn’t constantly be causing capers on set.

Mostly, it feels like a pointed takedown of the influencer culture that has overtaken reality TV and replaced the people who were genuinely looking for love on TV. Assuming those kinds of people ever existed. Whenever Trey and Dawn spend time together away from the cameras and talk to each other like normal people, it makes you wonder if anyone on reality TV is or has ever been this normal off-screen. But then again, The Wrong Paris is really good at making you hope so.

Of course, The Wrong Paris does commit the ultimate rom-com sin. For as real as these two feel and as clearly connected to each other as they feel, for whatever reason, Dawn can’t bring herself to even half explain to Trey why she’s wanted to get away from the show so badly.

What harm could there be if she simply explained that she got into art school in France and was hoping this show would help her pay her way there? It’s honest to him without being dishonest to the network. And they’re already spending so much time galavanting around together without cameras or producers, why not take the final step in clearing the air? But no, the movie goes for the cheap, contrived drama instead.

The Wrong Paris falls into some bad tropes but avoids many others.

Does the drama work? Yes. The longing you feel is palpable, even behind some terrible CGI and the constant lens flares. You feel for both of them, given the situation. It just would have been nice if the source of the drama were more original. Fortunately, the movie earns enough goodwill that by the time the trope is played out, it can be forgiven. And it’s far better than if the central conflict involved Dawn having to choose between love and her passion.

Where The Wrong Paris doesn’t abide by dull tropes is in the lessons it imparts, intentionally or subtextually. Dawn isn’t asked to give anything up for a man, and neither does she offer it. Trey is just a normal person; he’s not hiding some kind of inspirational insecurity for Dawn to nurse or harboring a secret dark side.

Dawn’s roommate on the show, Jasmine (Christin Park), the only other real human being on “Honey Pot,” isn’t turned into an over-the-top manic best friend character. Her arc is somewhat subtle compared to how these sorts of things usually go. Plus, Dawn has a genuine ally in one of the producers, Rachel (Yvonne Orji).

In a sea of streamer rom-coms, The Wrong Paris stands out as original and well-delivered. Even if its visuals aren’t as strong as movies made for theaters and it falls back on one annoying trope, the premise is quite fun. Poking at contemporary television and vapid influencer culture without demeaning the characters we’re meant to actually care about is a winning combo.

The Wrong Paris is streaming now on Netflix.