Lindsay Lohan’s Second Netflix Rom-Com Is A Silly, Flawed Watch

Fresh off her buzzy cameo in this year’s Mean Girls musical remake, Lindsay Lohan continues her return to the screen with another Netflix rom-com that could double as a Hallmark feature. Whereas 2022’s Falling for Christmas found Lohan grappling with amnesia and holiday cheer, the Janeen Damian-directed Irish Wish saddles her with magical whimsy and two potential suitors, complete with an impending wedding as the backdrop. If you’ve been looking forward to this movie (as I was), then you’re bound to have at least some fun. Anyone already apprehensive of it, though, will likely not be swayed.

Irish Wish is a romantic comedy film directed by Janeen Damian and released in 2024. Lindsay Lohan stars as Maddie Kelly, an editor who is in love with the man she ghostwrites for with one major problem: her best friend is engaged to him. After a seemingly innocuous wish comes true, Maddie finds herself engaged to the man of her dreams – but soon realizes she may have been looking for love in all the wrong places.

Pros

• Irish Wish is an inoffensive rom-com that will entertain
• Lindsay Lohan and Ed Speleers have great chemistry

Cons

• The magical elements are unnecessary
• The supporting characters needed more development

Netflix has built a reputation for producing solid rom-coms, with some of its best being To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Set It Up. Irish Wish doesn’t match those in quality, largely due to awkward dialogue, plot elements that fall apart under scrutiny, and too much magical interference. At the same time, it’s helped along by a swoon-worthy male lead and Lohan, who remains a reliable screen presence. What results is an at-times goofy movie with a few missteps.

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Irish Wish’s Premise Is Already Out There, Then Goes Further

Irish Wish kicks off with a too-long prologue that sets up what’s to come: Book editor Maddie (Lohan) has a huge crush on her biggest author, heartthrob Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos), but he only appreciates her talents within the publishing world. Her attempt at confessing her feelings falls flat when Paul meets her best friend Emma (Elizabeth Tan), leading to a whirlwind romance between the two with Maddie left watching from afar.

While in Ireland for Paul and Emma’s wedding, Maddie makes a desperate wish: She wants to be the one marrying Paul. And soon, she wakes up to a world where that’s exactly what’s happening. Naturally, things don’t go exactly how Maddie expected, and her wish-induced relationship with Paul is further complicated by James Thomas (Star Trek: Picard‘s Ed Speleers), a photographer roped into shooting the upcoming wedding who just might be a better match for Maddie.

Lohan and Speleers have sweet chemistry, and that alone would be enough to prove Maddie and James are the true love story. However, Irish Wish also features a meddling saint, Brigid (Dawn Bradfield), who sees fit to throw in extra magical obstacles that push Maddie and James closer together. This ups the slapstick humor considerably, and it makes the central romance feel far more manufactured than it should. Even I, who only wanted silly escapist fun, grew frustrated with Brigid’s frequent interference, which includes randomly stranding Maddie’s mom (Jane Seymour) back in the US.

Irish Wish’s Biggest Strength Is Its Romance

Outside the extraneous fantasy elements, the Maddie and James dynamic has a timeless quality, drawn from the familiar premise of an engaged woman learning she wants someone else. The movie’s dialogue is often more telling than showing, and that can lead to awkwardly staged scenes and encounters. Nevertheless, Lohan and Speleers banter easily with each other, with Speleers especially giving a great performance. Lohan, still getting accustomed to being in front of the camera again, leans into the over-the-top humor within the story well, and I’m thrilled to see her making comedies again.

The rest of Irish Wish’s characters don’t get nearly as much depth as Maddie and James, which leads to an uneven narrative. Yes, one could argue the core romance is the most important part and therefore deserves the most attention, but I couldn’t help but wish Maddie’s friendships with Emma and their mutual pal Heather (Ayesha Curry) were fleshed out more, particularly in the case of the former.

Aside from a poignant scene between Maddie and Emma late in the movie, we know very little about Emma, and that only makes parts of Irish Wish‘s ending fall flat. No spoilers, but after seeing certain sides of Paul, it’s hard not to feel Emma deserves some justice. Largely, though, Lohan’s latest Netflix movie is an inoffensive rom-com with ample amounts of cheesiness and heart. Does it hold up alongside her classic movies like Mean Girls and Freaky Friday? No, but she seems to be having a lot of fun, and that at least is wonderful to see.