“Picture This” Is Proof That Simone Ashley Needs To Be In More Rom-Coms ASAP
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Picture This.
But if you’ve been yearning for another glimpse of her in your 55th rewatch of Bridgerton, pause the show and catch her in new rom-com, Picture This, alongside Hero Fiennes Tiffin — who you might recognise from the After franchise.
The film follows a photographer Pia (played by Simone) in the midst of fixing her failing small business. At the same time, she needs to play maid-of-honour for her younger sister’s wedding, alongside her ex (!!!!) Charlie (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) — who coincidentally, is the best man. To add to her struggles, her family desperately wants her to get married, so on the prediction of a pre-nuptial fortune teller, they each set her up with a date.
The movie may be a remake of Australian film, Five Blind Dates but Ashley and Tiffin breathe new tension, banter and British accents into a familiar story. But that begs the question: is it worth watching?
To help you decide, I’ve requested reviews from 
THE WATCHERS AKA a team of movie viewers, each with different tastes in genre, style and comedy. Now, the council has given their verdicts!
On today’s rotation we have:
Mark Mariano: The Cheesy Rom-Com Expert
Bernice Corral: Just Here For The Vibes, But I’m A Film Major
Kailah Haddad: Give Me A Pash Or A Slash — I’m Sat
Hameda Nafiz: A Plot Hole’s Worst Nightmare
Here’s what they each had to say about Picture This:
Despite the inevitable and eventual connection between Pia and Charlie, my hot take? Romantic love is great, but not a requirement for happiness. Pia’s life (and apartment!) in the beginning, while unconventional and with its own challenges, is still pretty fab.
I do love, though, that Charlie knew different versions of Pia, and I pray for a love that loves me as I am (thank you Colin Firth), as I was and in what I become.
My only critique, if any: Simone’s natural grace leaves Pia’s ‘clumsy’ physicality a little out of place. Otherwise, I can’t get enough.
BRB, adding Five Blind Dates to my Watch List.
Normally I don’t mind a bad hate-watch, but I really couldn’t get past the pacing and cringe-worthy dialogue.
Also, there’s no plot development until the third act? I saw I had TWENTY MINUTES LEFT and was like, “The lead who got away — and who’s name I’ve forgotten — that we all know is going to sweep her off her feet, hasn’t even HINTED that he wants to get back together???”. In saying that, about halfway through, I did stop to think that I was being a little too harsh…
I specifically pondered on the amount of diabolical rom-coms that are lead by white actors (see again: the above listed) and how they’re not as harshly criticised. So I decided to get over it!
I GUESS ON A POSITIVE NOTE, what I did love the most with Picture This was the amount of cultural representation. It just felt SO refreshing to see it in a movie, let alone a rom-com. Very akin to Bend It Like Beckham, something I do love to see.
And as much as this isn’t the Oscar-worthy performance I was hoping for, I will be continuing to vouch for Simone Ashley in support of seeing her act alongside Dev Patel in a (hopefully good) rom-com one day (they have both said they’d love to work with each other — I’m not just saying this out of thin air — though I wouldn’t put it past me!).
I think we ALL know how compelling Simone can be on screen (see: Bridgerton), and we’ll chalk it up to an imperfect script. Her comedic moments were great and she’s a loveable hot mess in the best way possible.
Will I watch it again? Honestly, probably not, but also maybe just to show my friends for laughs. But will I keep thinking about the scene (SPOILER!!) where Simone Ashley finds out her second date is a FLAT EARTHER (my personal biggest fear) and makes a run for it? Yes, yes I will.
Now, let’s talk about Tiffin for a sec, because seeing him in this role was a shock to my system. I’m so used to him as the brooding, toxic guy in the After franchise (IYKYK), so seeing him as the more lighthearted, playful Charlie? Definitely a different vibe. Don’t get me wrong, it was a refreshing change, but maybe I’m lowkey into the toxic drama? Like, give me more of that unhinged chaos.
Overall, Picture This is a solid rom-com for unwinding. It might not be a classic, but it’s a fun ride. And Simone Ashley? She’s the rom-com star we didn’t know we needed.
At the surface, it seems a little stubborn or reckless, avidly avoiding a service that might save your business. But as someone who broke through the barriers of the life imagined for me by my parents, grandparents, and so on, I understood it from the very first moment.
Something that might seem trivial to others, feels like failure for those who have fought tooth and nail for a mere chance to live a life they actually want. Giving in to anything less, regardless of whether the resilience might lead to total annihilation, is not an option.
Pia’s determination to her cause was yet another facet of her identity that I truly resonated with.
The film is packed with countless relatable moments I’ve never found in any other form of media — from crashing out at a family event, to Pia’s snide remark about enjoying yoga with a side of “cultural appropriation” when the bridal party attends a session led by a white man (who’s favourite film is Eat, Pray, Love — IYKYK). Sure, the dialogue and plot can feel a little cheesy sometimes, but isn’t that what rom-coms are all about?
Overall, I deeply adored this film, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a feel-good ~romedy~, with a South-Asian female lead who is actually likeable (I might be side-eyeing a certain female comedian with that statement, but I stand by it).
