“Pitiful”, “abysmal”, “embarrassing”, “dumber than a handful of stones” or “offensively bad”.
These are just some of the adjectives that the specialized press has dedicated to
An Irish Wish
, Netflix's new romantic comedy.
The story is formulaic: an aspiring writer discovers that the love of her life is engaged to her best friend.
Her feelings aside, she agrees to be the bridesmaid at the ceremony, but the reality of the wedding changes unexpectedly when she makes a wish on an Irish rock.
But the spell has not been transferred to the experts, who punish it with ratings that are very far from even the approved one.
However, in yet another example of the chronic divorce between critics and audiences,
An Irish Wish
has become the platform's first big spring hit, ranking among the most watched in 85 countries around the world and reaching first place, for For example, in the ranking of Spain.
And the key to success has a name: Lindsay Lohan.
After more than fifteen years away from the front lines of Hollywood, the actress who was a legend of teenage cinema at the beginning of the century is enjoying a second – or third? Or fourth? – opportunity to make up for the years of detentions, trials, admissions to rehabilitation clinics and other various scandals.
And she has done it by becoming one of Netflix's unexpected stars... or at least one of the most profitable.
After the bulk of the industry ruled out having her again for projects with a larger budget or artistic and technical substance, the platform has found in Lohan, 37, a nostalgic claim willing to put her iconic aura in such synthetic productions. like
An Irish Wish
, but which are enjoyed massively by the public.
Lindsay Lohan in 'An Irish Wish'.Netflix
For years now, Netflix has found a very profitable market niche in romantic comedies, a genre that has been banned from movie theaters for years in favor of action blockbusters or more independent works.
How to Get Rid of Your Boss
,
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
,
My First Kiss
or
Your House or Mine
are some examples of low-medium budget films but with a mass audience, cultivating a pool of new leading men in the process. mecca of cinema like Jacob Elordi or Glen Powell.
“We are aware of what people watch and how much they watch it, and we found that a lot of romantic comedies were consumed, even the bad ones,” Matt Brodlie, former director of original films at Netflix, admitted in 2018.
The disconnection with critics is even more pronounced on the platform, with most of the most viewed films in its history obtaining very poor ratings.
But while big-budget bets like
Don't Look Up, Blonde
or
Maestro
try to bring prestige and statuettes – without success – to the company, the guilty pleasures of popular stars battered by critics like Adam Sandler or Lindsay Lohan are responsible for fueling the subscribers' voracious desire for entertainment.
Although in Lohan's case it may sound paradoxical to describe as triumphant a comeback based on consecutively releasing objectively bad films, the data show that platform audiences do not penalize the mediocrity of the films they consume.
Streaming
requires less commitment, effort and financial outlay than the in-room experience, so frustration in the face of disappointment is also less
.
“Bad reviews don't hurt Netflix movies because the public is more forgiving of their flaws by not having spent a lot of money on a ticket or having left the comfort of their couch.
It's easier to sit back and enjoy the good parts of a bad movie,” corroborates journalist Michael Kenndy in
Screenrant.
“I think we need inspiring films and I want to bring them to people's homes,” the interpreter herself defends.
On the other hand, Netflix offers a showcase of visibility that is impossible for any star eager to reclaim the status of yesteryear to reject, and Lohan is experiencing it firsthand.
After more than ten years without being invited, the actress was one of the main stars of the exclusive party that
Vanity Fair
organizes every year after the Oscars.
“It's
Lohancimiento
,” stated the magazine.
“She's going to claim her throne,” added
Bustle
magazine when the New Yorker appeared on the red carpet in a dazzling Balenciaga.
As she herself confessed, emerging stars like Billie Eilish and Sydney Sweeney did not doubt her when it came to showing her their deep admiration at the party.
Based on the millions of views of her latest premiere and the hundreds of comments praising her return on social networks, the feeling is shared among those who consider the actress a “generational icon.”
Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton in an image from the 2000s.BEN/DEAN/GABO (BEN/DEAN/GABO/BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM / Cordon Press)
Lohan's professional rehabilitation began in 2022, when she reached a collaboration agreement with Netflix for the production of two films.
A few months later, the romantic comedy
Christmas Suddenly
– his first starring role since 2013 – became one of the company's most watched films during the festive period.
A relationship that, as announced by the platform last January and before knowing the success of
An Irish Wish
, will continue to extend over time.
To the joy of his fans, Lohan already anticipates that her short-term plans include a sequel to one of his classics,
Put yourself in my place
, alongside Jamie Lee-Curtis.
Her schedule is so hectic that the actress, who has lived in Dubai for a decade with her husband, the banker Bader Shammas, and their son Luai, born last July, confirms that she is thinking of moving back to the mecca of business. cinema.
Lindsay Lohan's rise to stardom came very early.
At the age of eleven, and after working since she was three as a child model in dozens of television advertisements, her portrayal of two twin sisters who discover each other's existence at a summer camp made her the successor to Macaulay Culkin as a promising new prodigy. from Hollywood.
You to London and I to California
was a success that grossed nearly 100 million dollars in 1998 and its freckled protagonist, who during the months of filming had told her classmates that she was on a family vacation, returned to the classroom transformed into the girl most famous in the United States.
Lindsay Lohan in an image from 1998.©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everet
“Leaving aside how adorable he was, he had that quality of captivating the viewer.
To be a movie star, to be the protagonist of a movie, you need to have that connection with the camera,” the film's director, Nancy Meyers, said about her.
That connection also extended into adolescence, achieving youth film hits such as the iconic
Mean Girls
– which made him pocket half a million dollars for a very brief cameo in the recent remake – or
Give Me My Luck Back
.
Lohan's face was a guarantee of selling seats, she published two studio albums and at barely 20 years old she was already collecting checks exceeding seven million euros per film, but she sank into a self-destructive spiral between 2007 and 2012 that left her twenty of times before the courts.
Along with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, she became the recurring meme of the tabloid press until she was forced to put oceans in between to piece together the pieces of that broken toy.
Now, when she says she is in the moment of greatest physical and sentimental fulfillment, she warns of what is to come: “My story is not over yet.”