Movie Review: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Most of the time a movie or a tv show has to be on my list for me to decide to watch it. Not that I literally add the movies to a list, but I know which ones I’ve made a mental note about wanting to watch, and which I haven’t. But every so often I decide to throw caution to the wind and just watch something that’s not in my queue. Sometimes it fails spectacularly. Now and then, I find an absolute gem.

I’d heard of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris mainly through watching the Oscars. From that, I had an idea it was about some sort of housewife or regular person who goes to do something with fashion. (There’s only so much about a movie you can learn through 5 second snippets peppered throughout a three plus hour program.) And actually, now that I look at it, it was just nominated for Best Costume Design, so really it’s impressive that I remembered it at all.

A month ago, I was looking for something new to watch with Denisa and Daniela. Something different than what we normally watch. Daniela was in the mood for a classic, but I was coming up empty in the Classics I Want to Watch Right Now department. However, Mrs. Harris popped up in my movie surfing. Daniela likes fashion, so . . . I stopped thinking and just decided to go with it. I’m so glad I did, because the movie was absolutely lovely.

I wasn’t too far off in my understanding of the movie. Mrs. Harris is a maid in 1950s London. She’s overworked, but big-hearted. One day she sees a couture Dior dress, and she decides she wants to one day buy one for herself, even though they cost an astronomical amount. The movie plays out from there, though I don’t want to give anything else away.

At its heart, it’s a wish-fulfillment movie. Is it plausible? Well, probably not. But you watch it, and you wish the world might be more like it’s portrayed in the film. It’s rated PG, so it’s suitable for the whole family, though I don’t know that MC would have found it very riveting. But if you’ve got kids 12 and over and want a good escape into a very positive film, you should definitely give this one a shot. It’s on Prime Video. 9/10.