We could all use a little escapism right now, especially when the escapism in question is as exceedingly pleasant as Anthony Fabian’s “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” starring the luminous Lesley Manville as a cleaning lady from London who takes a trip to Paris to see about a frock. It’s not just any frock — it’s haute couture from the House of Christian Dior, the kind of dress that can change a life, and in this case, changes many.
London, 1957. Ada Harris (Manville), a modest woman who makes her living cleaning up after others, has been waiting around for her Eddie, who has yet to return from the war. She has a prim basement apartment, a friend Vi (Ellen Thomas) with whom she rides the bus and shares port with lemon at the pub after work, and a passing interest in the dashing Archie (Jason Isaacs), who always seems to be dancing with someone else.
Her clients take her for granted, but Ada is a woman who believes in signs and serendipity, and soon, the messages from the universe are too many to ignore. First, a package with Eddie’s ring and a letter that he’s been officially killed in action, his plane shot down in 1944. Then, a widow’s pension, a reward for turning in a diamond pin, and a sports bet that manages to go the right way, thanks to a little help from her friends. She knows exactly where she’ll put this unexpected windfall, having fallen under the spell of a sparkling pink Dior gown in the closet of one of her more difficult clients, Lady Dant (Anna Chancellor).
