While we wait for the 2025 fall TV schedule to get into full swing, streaming has a lot of fun options of late. In fact, Netflix recently debuted The Wrong Paris, a fun rom-com that also marks the first time Miranda Cosgrove has led a movie in the genre.
I’m not sure The Wrong Paris will go down in the rom-com history books, but I do need to talk about the movie’s wild premise, and why I’m still bullish despite it.
What Happens At The End Of The Wrong Paris?
The Wrong Paris follows Miranda Cosgrove’s Dawn as she looks for ways to pay for art school in Paris, France. A reality show advertising that it would be set in Paris seems to be her answer. Dawn feels she can use the show for a free plane ticket, then get herself kicked off the series to make her school schedule. What she doesn’t count on is the show being set in Paris, Texas, and that she might have feelings for the bachelor in question after all.
While hammy, the initial premise of Netflix’s new rom-com is relatively charming, and throughout most of its runtime I was very invested in how Dawn would resolve her art school conundrum and hook up with Try (Pierson Fode). However, how the resolution ultimately occurs is totally bonkers, and it dropped the movie down a whole star for me.
Basically, Dawn gets kicked off the reality show by Trey after he finds out about her duplicitous actions. She then uses the appearance fee from the show to make it to Paris for art school, but she’s struggling (though inexplicably she seems to have money for coffee, cafes and croissants).
Weeks later, when she finds out the cast made it to the “real” Paris, she somehow is able to retrieve all of the appearance money and give it back to the producer (unclear how since weeks have passed and she’d spent money in France, but okey dokey) so that she can have one more shot at telling Trey how she really feels. Nevermind that this random rule is pretty nonsensical and would probably never work on a reality series.
Anyway, the two lovebirds have a candid talk and hatch a plan for Trey to propose and Dawn to reject the proposal so she can take home the cash and pay for art school. Then, they’ll get together down the line, I guess. It’s not technically breaking the show rules, but it is a silly, rule-bound, rather confusing way to get the two together in the end.
So, yes, the movie wraps on a fantastical, silly and rather confusing note. (Though our own Riley Utley liked it.) There’s one big highlight, though: I buy Miranda Cosgrove as the rom-com lead.
Despite kind of feeling let down by The Wrong Paris, the new movie has cemented one thing for me: Miranda Cosgrove is a good fit for rom-coms, and I hope she gets more regular work.
It seems as if Netflix had been gearing up for this big moment for a while. More than a year ago, Netflix released Mother of the Bride, a fun (though oft hated on) rom-com starring Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt, that also had Miranda Cosgrove in a key supporting role. It didn’t stand out as one of the best rom-coms of all time for me, but the one thing I really loved about it was Cosgrove’s inclusion. She, like Netflix’s own Lindsay Lohan or Lacey Chabert, or heck, Chad Michael Murray, has a knack for this sort of content.
(Hilariously, Cosgrove is trying to get into the kissing game on Netflix, while Lohan is trying to step away from being the rom-com queen.)
Cosgrove really wants to be on board with this genre, though, telling THR recently The Wrong Paris marks a new opportunity for her to expand her horizons in the rom-com world. It’s something she really wants.
I’ve never been the lead in a rom-com in my whole life, even though I love the genre and I feel like rom-coms have gotten me through a lot of tough moments in my life.
She also told the outlet she would like to be comfort food for fans in a way that Notting Hill was for her growing up.
There’s certain ones like Notting Hill where anytime I’m in a funk or something, I’ll just watch that movie and it makes me happy. So I was really excited to get to be a part of it because thinking I could get to be in something that maybe could do that for someone feels good. I just love comedy and I like more lighthearted stuff, and I used to watch The Bachelor a lot, so the reality show that’s in the movie is most similar to The Bachelor.
I’m not sure The Wrong Paris will ever be even a smidge as well-received as Notting Hill, but for a first outing in the genre, it shows how much potential the actress has. It’s a start, and who knows, if she can maintain a following, hopefully one day the perfect project will come along that lights fans up in the same way Julia Roberts‘ 100-watt smile did.
