If you found Simone Ashley just a wee bit too perfect in season two of Netflix’s perfect period piece, Bridgerton, you’ll love her in Picture This; her character is a hot mess express! Ashley plays Pia, a young photographer in London who is kind to everyone but whose photography studio is close to going under.

 

We learn that Pia is very career-focused and does not want to be burdened with marriage or kids, but that her mom is strongly encouraging her to choose a husband (and even bribing her with jewelry!) She spends her time mostly alone or with her gay best friend and business partner, but we soon find out her first love will be attending her sister’s upcoming nuptials.

 

When a spiritual guru prophesizes that she will find true love in her next five dates, Pia gives in to family pressure and her own curiosity and goes on five dates with people her parents and friends set her up with. Each is more hilarious and disastrous than the last!

 

With upbeat music, playful cinematography, colorful costumes and Bollywood-esque dance numbers, Picture This keeps the viewer’s interest as Pia navigates family, awful dates and her dreamy ex-boyfriend, played by Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Luke Fetherston also does a great job as her best friend, uttering my favorite line of the film: “Straight people are such messed-up, filthy deviants.”

 

I enjoyed the subplot of Pia’s devotion to her art and reluctance to just “take photos.” She has a moving monologue about the difference between taking a photo and making a portrait; in the latter, two people take part and it’s more like a relationship or a conversation.

 

Will Pia’s photo studio go under, or will she be able to leverage her passion to turn a profit? Will any of these complete disaster dates result in a true soulmate match, as the guru promised? These questions, and the at-times music video vibes of this film, more than kept my interest as it reached a dazzling and aesthetic conclusion.

 

This film will be a hit for fans of romcoms, London and romance in general.