Picture This
Review: A new rom com that came direct to Prime, this film stars Simone Ashley (known as Kate Sharma on ‘Bridgerton’) as a woman who has no desire to get married but has cultural expectations thrust upon her. Some of my key takeaways from the films were as follows. The three blind dates we get to see were all very fun and well done, and two of them actually got me thinking she could potentially end up with these guys. Secondly, I appreciate that they acknowledged Pia (Ashley)’s imperfections & faults because she actually was really mean to her mom and sister in one particular scene. Finally, I really enjoyed the character of Jay (Luke Fetherston) who played the often overused archetype of GBF, but they did it well in this film. I would recommend this film if you like cheesy rom coms & want one that touches on a different demographic than the usual white couple.
High: I’m not going to pretend that I am super familiar with Indian heritage, culture, or customs. But I will say that you could tell the filmmaker behind this film (Prarthana Mohan) is. I think that is incredibly important to a film that the filmmaker is either very educated on, or a part of the culture being depicted. If you think that doesn’t matter I would point to a drastic, but effective example, ‘Emilia Perez.’ I would love to hear what people who are a part of Indian culture thought of this film, but will say that I enjoyed being immersed in traditions unfamiliar to myself.
Low: I hesitate to even put a spoiler warning because I think it should be obvious how this film will end. But if you’re worried about that then SPOILERS. I really think the best ending this film could have had was Pia proving to her family & friends that she was right and could make life work as an independent, working woman. The relationship between she and Charlie (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) felt heavily under developed, even less than Pia & other romantic interests in the film. Since I knew what the outcome was going to be, I wasn’t upset by it, but would’ve been happily pleased if it surprised me.
Rating: 5/10
