--- description: Watching this film is like stepping through a portal to a time when sweet-natured, visually resplendent pictures like this were plentiful. title: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Is Like a Portal in Time image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8cfb77d9c65ef8/698a33c44ee262973831a665/MHP_17724_R.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris_ Is the Rare Movie That Values the Mere Idea of Beauty  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic Jul 15, 2022 5:08 PM CUT  Lesley Manville in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Lesley Manville in Mrs. Harris Goes to ParisDávid Lukács—Ada Films Ltd  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic Jul 15, 2022 5:08 PM CUT Watching _Mrs. Harris Goes_ _to Paris_ is like stepping through a portal in time—not back to the 1950s, the movie’s setting, but to the 1990s, when sweet-natured, visually resplendent pictures like this were plentiful. In this adaptation of a popular 1958 novel by Paul Gallico, kindhearted London cleaning woman Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), a war widow, falls in love with a client’s swoon-worthy Christian Dior gown and vows to buy one for herself, even though the price is far beyond her means. With some luck, she scrapes the money together and treks to Paris, where she’s at first rebuffed by the master’s right-hand woman (a frosty-chic Isabelle Huppert), only to win over everyone at the house with her forthright warmth. This is a story about following one’s dreams and then learning there’s a _lesson_ attached to those dreams—you might catch more than a perfume whiff of sanctimoniousness here. But it’s rare to find movies that value the mere idea of beauty, and this one—directed by Anthony Fabian—does so unapologetically. For some of us, the words _1950s couture fashion show_ are tantamount to summoning a cat with “Here, kitty-kitty,” and _Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris_ does not disappoint: the film was made with Dior’s cooperation, and the featured garments are so gorgeously detailed, you might wish to examine them at close range. Manville’s performance has a similar understated elegance. Her Ada is uncompromising not just in her fashion sense but also in defining her own happiness. If she has all the twinkling charm of the nighttime Eiffel Tower, she also stands just as proud. In the end, Ada creates her own enchantment. The dress is just a red herring—albeit a gorgeous one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6197552/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6197552/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-review/"},"headline":"Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Is the Rare Movie That Values the Mere Idea of Beauty","datePublished":"2022-07-15T17:08:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:30:17.435Z","description":"Watching it is like stepping through a portal to a time when sweet-natured, visually resplendent pictures like this were plentiful","url":"https://time.com/6197552/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-review/","keywords":["movies","review","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8cfb77d9c65ef8/698a33c44ee262973831a665/MHP_17724_R.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Zacharek","jobTitle":"Film Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8cfb77d9c65ef8/698a33c44ee262973831a665/MHP_17724_R.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS","caption":"MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS","creditText":"Dávid Lukács—Ada Films Ltd","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6197552/mrs-harris-goes-to-paris-review/","name":"Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Is the Rare Movie That Values the Mere Idea of Beauty"}}]}] ```