Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is a delightful 2022 film starring Leslie Manville, who inhabits the role of Mrs Harris with both effortless grace and engaging vigour. In 1950s London, Ada Harris is a war-widow who makes ends meet as a cleaning lady.
While cleaning for one of her dreadfully arrogant upper-class employees, she falls madly in love with a couture Christian Dior dress, deciding she must have one of her own. After working to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris that not only transforms her – but also the very future of the House of Dior.
This film has a fairy-tale quality and therefore logistical details and plausibility are not the focus. “The world isn’t the happiest place to be these days, so why not cheer a little bit for a wholesome, decent character in a lovely dress?” (Tomris Lafley, in RogerEbert.com)