In romantic comedies, it is very easy to retell the same story and achieve your goal of fun. Escapism is one of the main attractions of films and series, nothing wrong with that! And Upgraded is another one of these products, but one that gets a 10.

Starring Camila Mendes, from Riverdale, and Archie Renaux, from Shadow and Bone, the film features experienced actresses – who steal the show, obviously – like Lena Olin and Marisa Tomei, in a story that we’ve seen told a thousand times and will accept a thousand more if they use the formula well. Which is a fun metaphor for the film’s plot, dealing with Art, lies, encounters, and happy endings.

Ana Santos (Camila Mendes) is a young woman with big dreams and a lot of financial difficulties who dreams of one day having her own gallery. To get there, she works as an assistant at an auction house and the “Miranda Priestley” of the Arts, Claire (Marisa Tomei), a demanding and toxic curator who can make or break the career of anyone aspiring in the field.

Yes, it’s The Devil Wears Prada from the Arts mixed with the old and repeated Cinderella, including the abusive assistants, Suzette (Rachel Matthews) and Renee (Fola Evans-Akingbola), the Cinderella cat’s evil sisters. Astute, Ana faces obstacles and has a fairy godmother as an airline attendant who gives her an upgrade after seeing her being mistreated by Suzette and Renee. Okay, let’s move on to cliché number two, the main couple’s cute date.

Of course, it happens with a disaster for the clumsy heroine. And it continues on a long flight where romance is born in a first-class cabin. They never managed to make eternal love born in the economy class, have you noticed? But on the executive side, it’s calmer. Anyway, it is there that Will (Archie Renaux) and Ana understand each other, but she lies saying that she is a director and he falls for the obvious lie.

Landing in London, the two bump into each other again when his mother picks him up at the airport. Catherine (Lena Olin) is a millionaire and famous and adores Ana. Everything is going well and the forgotten computer in the car is a bit of a glass slipper. Miranda Priestley’s school phone interrupts every moment, but neither Will nor Catherine’s rich friends realize that Ana isn’t who she says she is. She is – and really is – charming and cultured, nothing else matters.

Obviously, things get worse when every opportunity Ana has to correct her lie is ignored. Catherine is not only the mother-in-law of dreams, she is the main collector Claire is after.

I don’t need to continue, the third act is when Ana is unmasked and has to resolve everything without pretending to be who she is not. We know how it ends, but it’s like a Jane Austen book, it doesn’t matter because the journey is delightful.

Directed by Carlson Young, Upgraded led Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched films, placing Camila Mendes as a potential star of something bigger. She is convincing, fun, and elegant without seeming fake, and with comedic timing.

Obviously, the lack of originality leads to some awkward stretches, but Lena Olin and Marisa Tomei are so comfortable that it only makes us nostalgic for the times when we saw them more frequently on screen, especially Marisa, who is hilarious in any role.

Another quality of Upgraded is the modernization of the happy ending of a fairy tale. Sisterhood may be a twist that many had not anticipated, but it is well contextualized and provides an interesting conclusive alternative, of a modern romantic heroine that pleases everyone. A good alternative to fly in the carefree imagination.

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