Falling for Figaro Parent Guide

Millie (Danielle Macdonald) seems to have it all. She’s a successful fund manager in line for a major promotion, she has a loving boyfriend, and enjoys a beautiful flat in a posh part of London. But her white-collar job is unfulfilling, so she leaves it to pursue her true passion: becoming an opera singer. A friend suggests she go learn from Meghan Geoffrey-Bishop (Joanna Lumley), a retired opera diva living a secluded life in the Scottish Highlands. After she arrives, Millie meets Max (Hugh Skinner), Meghan’s other student who resents having a new rival.

I wanted to like this movie; I really did. I can appreciate a cheesy, Hallmark-style romance when it’s done well. And I will say the first maybe third or so of the runtime is good. But the whole story, and consequently my enjoyment, fell apart soon after that. These types of love triangles, the boyfriend back home and the new, mysterious stranger, only work when the boyfriend back home is a bit of a jerk and the new guy is charming, if a little rough around the edges. Somehow the writers seemed to mix the two up, unfortunately. Millie’s boyfriend back in London, Charlie (Shazaf Latif), is understanding, loyal, supportive, charming, and everything else one could possibly want in a man. Max, on the other hand, is rude, brooding, and lacks the charisma needed in a leading man. There is zero chemistry between Millie and Max, and so the audience has no reason to root for the two of them. Watching Millie cheat on perfect Charlie (emotionally at least) with the sad sack of cardboard just made me dislike her even more than I already did. On that note, Millie is an unlikeable protagonist, and Danielle Macdonald isn’t a very good actress, so I just didn’t really care what happened to her after a certain point.

If I can muster up some positives, the Scottish scenery is breathtaking. If there had been more shots of Highland cows on misty moors, maybe I would have enjoyed myself more. The singing is great as well, though that’s a pretty low bar for a movie about opera. There is a fine film in here somewhere; I think the writing just ruined a perfectly good concept.

From a content perspective, this is not for children, but I think that’s obvious based on the genre. For a romance, however, there is a surprising lack of sex, which is refreshing. Yes, it comes up in conversation a few times and there’s some making out, but it’s relatively mild. There is some swearing, including 8 F-bombs, but I honestly expected a lot more for a story set in Scotland. If you like opera, maybe you’d enjoy this movie for that aspect, but the bad acting, clueless writing, and unlikeable characters ruin what could have been a fun time.