“The Wrong Paris” Review: Netflix Swaps France for Texas in New Rom-Com

Netflix knows its way around a rom-com. From the swoony ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ trilogy to the messy chaos of ‘The Kissing Booth’ and the couture escapism of ‘Emily in Paris’, the streamer has churned out enough love stories to fill your queue for every mood. It’s a formula: glossy meet-cutes, heightened settings, and the promise that romance can bloom in the most unexpected places.

Enter ‘The Wrong Paris’, a rom-com built on one giant catfish: imagine signing up for a dating show thinking you’re headed to Paris, France… only to land in Paris, Texas.

That’s exactly what happens to Dawn (Miranda Cosgrove), a small-town waitress and metalsmith with big art school dreams. She earns acceptance into an academy in Paris, but without financial aid, the whole plan collapses. Emergencies eat up her savings, and suddenly her escape slips out of reach.

Her younger sister pitches a chaotic solution: audition for ‘The Honey Pot’, a hit dating show supposedly filming its next season in Paris. The scheme? Get on the show, lose immediately, pocket the $20,000 appearance fee, and use the trip as a one-way ticket to France.

Dawn doesn’t scream rom-com heroine, but the money and convenience feel too good to ignore. She auditions, wins a spot, and signs the contract—only to discover the producers’ big twist later. This “Paris” isn’t the City of Lights at all. It’s Paris, Texas. Just sixty miles from her hometown.

Her glamorous escape suddenly morphs into a rodeo of awkward challenges, camera-ready drama, and a house full of clashing personalities. Among them: influencer Alexis (Madison Pettis, rocking a chaotic accent), quirky sweetheart Jasmine (Christin Park), and a lineup of other comedic hopefuls who actually came here for love.

The biggest curveball? The show’s “honey,” aka their bachelor, is Trey (Pierson Fodé), the same hunky rancher Dawn flirted with just days earlier. Now stuck in the very game she planned to game, Dawn faces the ultimate choice: chase her dream of Paris, or open her heart to the wrong one.

On paper, the premise works. The catfish, being the situation itself rather than the characters, could have brought big laughs. Unfortunately, the execution makes us wonder what this movie even wants to be—or why it drags on for so long. Instead of leaning into absurdity, ‘The Wrong Paris’ trudges along, leaving us sorely bored.

It’s not that the cast phones it in. Miranda Cosgrove brings her usual likability to Dawn and works with what she’s given. Pierson Fodé, meanwhile, checks every box of the sexy, rugged bachelor. He’s got the rock-hard abs, tight jeans, and even a strategically timed breeze while she gazes at him. And yet, instead of feeling romantic, it plays like a commercial—which admittedly fits the premise, but doesn’t make it more fun.

The real problem? The whole production lacks spark. Reality shows might be staged, but they hook you with vibrant colours, over-the-top chemistry, and just enough chaos to keep you watching. Here, none of that lands. The spark never shows, and the vibe stays as flat as the staging.

At its best, Netflix rom-coms give you something to hold onto: the bubbly sincerity of ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’, or the chaotic fun of ‘The Kissing Booth’. Here, nothing sticks. ‘The Wrong Paris’ just plays in the background, like TV you keep on while folding laundry. You glance up now and then, but it never convinces you to stay.

The energy slips constantly. Scenes meander, jokes fizzle, and the central romance never pulls you in. As the 107-minute runtime drags on, we found ourselves close to dozing off, only jolted back to life by the occasional burst of action.

And then there’s the chemistry—or lack thereof—between Dawn and Trey. Sure, they banter a bit, and she shows flashes of independence. But the movie never convinces you she’d toss aside her art-school dreams for a guy whose main selling point is being rich and vaguely rugged.

Cosgrove, to her credit, leans more naturally into slapstick than swooning. She jumps into mud, smacks her castmates around, and clings to a mechanical bull for dear life. Those beats sort of land; the romance doesn’t.

Of course, this is meant to be a light, low-budget rom-com. Nobody’s walking in expecting ‘Before Sunrise’ or ‘Past Lives’. But even fluff needs charm. The best way to describe ‘The Wrong Paris’ is that it plays like a Hallmark Channel movie stripped of the very things that make Hallmark fun: the cosy magic, the cheesy sincerity, the guilty-pleasure glow. Without those, nothing remains.

The funny thing is, toward the end, you can actually see a shift in effort. For the finale, the cast finally makes it to the right Paris (no offence, Texas), and suddenly the whole production looks like it woke up. Honestly, though, the movie is so flat it almost feels insulting to Paris, Texas. It’s like it used the town as a punchline rather than giving it any personality of its own.

But by then, it’s too little, too late. A last-minute glow-up can’t erase the fact that most of ‘The Wrong Paris’ feels like a placeholder rom-com on the platform.

Netflix has proven before that its love stories can work, even when silly or formulaic. And they’ve gone to Paris to actually do it somewhat right with Emily. Again, no offence, Texas. Here, the magic never appears. Instead of swooning, you just wait for the credits to roll.

‘The Wrong Paris’ isn’t offensively bad. It’s just aggressively forgettable. This is the type of movie that sits in your recommendations for a week, then vanishes into Netflix’s endless carousel, buried among the titles you scroll past but never actually click.

‘The Wrong Paris’ is currently streaming on Netflix.