Netflix: Review of EMILY IN PARIS: Fitting In with the French

 October 1, 2020

By sheer luck, Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) was offered to go to Paris by her Chicago company to work with Savoir, a premiere French marketing firm of luxury brands. Emily accepted the post even if she did not speak any French, nor had any experience in fashion and cosmetics. Upon reaching her office, she immediate met the resistance of her immediate boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) who considered Emily's American style to be mediocre to hers.

Fortunately, Emily had better fortune in the friends she meets outside work. There were Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), the handsome young chef who lived one floor below her flat, and Camille (Camille Razat), the friendly art gallery hostess and champagne heiress. In the park, she met Mindy (Ashley Park), a Chinese nanny and singer who was hiding from her father who wanted her to take over their business in Shanghai. 

In the course of her work at Savoir, Emily would be involved in major business deals with perfume scent designer Antoine Lambert (William Abadie) and French fashion icon Pierre Cadault (Jean-Christophe Bouvet). Emily would also have some romantic dalliances with various French men, like philosophy professor Thomas (Julien Floreancig), champagne tour guide Timothee (Victor Meutelet), and businessman Mathieu (Charles Martins). 

This show had a vibe of "Sex and the City," but transported from New York to Paris. The cutesy ensembles of Emily is reminiscent of those quirky dresses worn by Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) in the 90s series. Like Carrie, Emily is also surrounded by chic fashion and debonair men, and yes, sexual escapades. The novel element this time is the social media aspect, so we get to see Emily's witty Instagram posts of her Paris experiences, which would lead her to more adventures and sometimes, misadventures.

Lily Collins gave Emily a wide-eyed, easily-relatable fish-out-of-water persona, which we all want to root for.  There was a lot of statements made about the French people -- work and business ethic, their attitudes towards women, their pride for their language, fashion, food and wines. The beautiful settings were colorful cityscapes, trendy cafes, fashion events -- everything we want to see in Paris. There are 10 episodes in this series, but each episode is less than 30 minutes each, which makes for easy popcorn binging for any rom-com fan. 7/10.