Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris will remind you that it's never too late to chase your dreams.

There's a myth that we all buy into when we're young. 

It's the idea that we have to achieve all our dreams by an arbitrary age. For some that's 30, for others it's 40. 

In our younger years, it feels like there's a ticking clock hanging over our heads and if we don't tick everything off our list by the time we reach a certain age, we never will. 

But the truth is, it's never too late to chase your dreams. And sometimes the biggest adventures in life come at the most unexpected times. 

That's the message behind the heartwarming new movie, Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris, in cinemas 27 October.

Watch the trailer for Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris. Post continues below.  

Based on the bestselling 1958 novel, Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris is a modern-day Cinderella story about a woman of modest means who achieves her goal of buying a spectacular dress.

While the book proved to be moving source material, director Anthony Fabian wanted to delve further into Mrs. Harris' emotional journey. While the main crux of the film is Mrs. Harris trying to buy her dream dress, he wanted that very dress to "become a catalyst for opening her heart and allowing her to love again," Fabian shares.

Here's everything you need to know about Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris, the feel-good film everyone will be talking about.

What's Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris about?

Set in post World War II London, Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris tells the story of Ada Harris, a seemingly ordinary British housekeeper (played by Academy Award nominee Lesley Manville), whose dream to own a Christian Dior gown takes her on an unexpected adventure to, you guessed it, Paris. 

Ada has lived a lonely existence since her husband Eddie went missing in action in the war, but throughout all her challenges, she has remained upbeat and positive. 

One day, when she spies a beautiful Christian Dior gown hanging in the closet of a wealthy client, she experiences an unexpected pang of desire. 

She wants one. And she thinks this dress could be the key to changing her life. 

After taking on extra cleaning jobs and saving all she can, Ada bids farewell to her friends in London and sets off to Paris to find her dress. 

Image: Universal Pictures.  

Once she arrives, however, she realises her dream might not be quite so easy to achieve. For one thing, Dior’s intimidating Madame Colbert (Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert), doesn't believe a woman like Ada should be allowed to wear haute couture. 

But in true Mrs. Harris fashion, she refuses to give up. With her signature wit and charm, she wins over idealistic Dior accountant André (Lucas Bravo), kindly model Natasha (Alba Baptista) and the aristocratic Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson), Paris’ most eligible bachelor.

Soon, Mrs. Harris discovers that in changing her own life, she might just change the lives of everyone around her. 

Where did the story come from? 

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris is based on Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel Mrs. ’Arris Goes to Paris, which is the first of four books centred on our heroine. 

The series has been loved by readers around the world for decades. In 1992, it was adapted for television with the legendary Angela Lansbury starring as the housekeeper from London with a big dream. 

Filmmaker Anthony Fabian was drawn to the story of Mrs. Harris and wanted to bring her to the big screen. He lived in Paris as a boy and attended boarding school in London.

“I understood these two worlds extremely well, London and Paris,” he said. “I felt it was a story that I could tell in a very authentic and accurate way.”

Fabian says that his goal in the film is to explain why Mrs. Harris was so determined to get her hands on that dress. 

"The book gives you the bones of the story, but not the flesh," he explained. "It doesn’t really explain why Mrs. Harris wants this dress, other than in the most frivolous and superficial terms — it had to be more profound. 

"Ultimately, I wanted to suggest that Ada Harris’ heart is healed by going on this journey. She is a widow who has put her heart on ice, and this dress is an inanimate object that she can love without betraying her husband. Somehow, the dress becomes a catalyst for opening her heart and allowing her to love again." 

Who stars in the movie?

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris has a spectacular British and French cast including Academy Award nominee Lesley Manville, Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert as Madame Colbert, Emily in Paris' Lucas Bravo as André, and Alba Baptista as Natasha. 

Image: Universal Pictures.  

When casting the role of Mrs. Harris, Fabian was determined to find someone who could embody all the character's extraordinary attributes. And Manville was exactly that person. 

"Lesley Manville has so many extraordinary qualities and such an extraordinary range that she can play everything from Ada’s sweetness to Ada’s strength. It’s a character with an enormous arc who goes on a huge adventure. Very few actors have the sort of skills at their disposal to play a character like Ada," Fabian explained. 

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris proves that it's never too late to chase your dreams. And in chasing your dreams, you might just change your life and the lives of everyone around you. 

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris premieres 27 October, only in cinemas.

Feature Image: Universal Pictures.