For those of us who look for a light-hearted escape after a long day at work, Emily in Paris proves to be a great option. With its positivity, and predictability, it surely is a feel-good, comfortable way to finish off the day. However, it has received mixed reviews from audiences, with the majority leaning towards an unfavorable feedback.
Shot in the stunningly beautiful country of France, the show is set in a small Parisian locality The Netflix show mostly feels like a soap-opera and ending on a cliffhanger, seems likely to be renewed for another season.
However, the show often throughout its 10-episode course relies on its Parisian charm, sometimes not even that. Here are a few places where Emily in Paris only slightly misses the mark (perhaps even completely off).
The show doesn’t remotely make use of the scenic views of a city like Paris. Perhaps it does highlight some of the most gorgeous and well-known locations but often misses out on the chance to use good lighting to showcase said locations in their complete glory. While the show is cheerful and mostly makes use of natural light for its scenes. Frames, although nice-looking, often look a little like they fall short, cinematically. The treatment of the show seems rather ‘sit-comish’.
The costumes do however add some grace to the scenes, taking the focus away from simplistic lighting and bland colors in the background, but every once in a while, you wish you saw a little more of Paris, in ways that only a true filmmaker could show.
The show primarily depends on good-looking men to get away with significant plot-holes. Why is it that Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) keeps showing up all over the place? Why does Emily keep running into him? This takes away the suspension of disbelief and makes is so the show is mostly contingent too severely on “as long as he’s hot, who cares?” The show banks more on Bravo’s appearance than his acting prowess.
As far as Lily Collins is concerned, to-be-honest, It would have been invigorating to see a face unseen in the world of rom-com before. However, she does an amazing job as an actress and perhaps shows the widest range of expressions in comparison with any other character.
Possibly one of the finest cast members is Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, who plays Emily’s demanding and tough French boss, Sylvie. However, we always witness a 360-degree swing in her character when an important client is near. She does a remarkable job of playing a character who refuses to let her guard down.
In the show, Emily’s character seems a little too optimistic. Let’s be honest, are Americans really that positive about everything? Her character’s only arc is breaking off her engagement with her beau and deciding to go to Paris. There isn’t much to look into beyond that. Perhaps the only big revolution in her life is finally taking things to the next level with Gabriel, a character shift too insignificant to create any real complexity.
However, there are certain points that feel relatable. Struggling at a new job, a hard-to-impress boss, not knowing what to say in a lot of places, and making a move that seems awkward to everyone are a few things pertaining to Emily’s character that might be relatable to a young audience, however, the show could really use a pinch of reality.
Characters are under-developed, under-explored and that, in to completely honest, is a darn shame because most of the characters have so much potential, it’s UNREAL!
