TV Review: Netflix’s Dash & Lily Brings The Holiday Cheer
Dash & Lily gives me YA glory. I could literally taste the adorable dynamics that permeated through Fault of Our Stars, Everything,Everything and Love, Simon. Of course, most of these films are NOT necessarily the ones you pop in for no tragedies and Christmas cheer. Yet, they do celebrate young love, through all odds. On November 10, so does Dash & Lily on Netflix.
The series goes straight for our Hallmark fantasies: the ones where we dream that our mundane lives will be sparked by cute bookstore runs where we discover an abandoned, red notebook, which leads to an adventure across the city to find “the one.” Ugh! Wouldn’t life be wonderful if we could fall in love so magically? This is the charm of Austin Abrams’ Dash and Midori Francis’ Lily: two people that, frankly, could be really sweet but annoying. Yes, I said it… annoying.
Dash & Lily | Official Trailer | Netflix
Midori Francis as Lily is a lot, but she is 100% authentic. We all have met a Lily: the one comes of way to strong and sees a warm smile as the beginning of an eternal friendship. Meanwhile, you were smiling at the person behind them. Lily reminds me of all the sweet girls desperate to be loved and accepted by someone, and thought the best recourse to achieving that was through bombarding anyone with their energy and fave lists. Frankly, I love that creator Rachel Cohn and director Fred Savage made Lily “that girl” because she deserves more understanding, and Francis’ performance does exactly that. You watch her expand Lily as a heart that goes beyond your judgments of her to become confidently compassionate and, eventually, in love.
Austin Abrams as Dash is the other “flawed” lead. He is bitter and embattled because he loved a girl that got bored with him. Yes, of all the torrid break-ups that are possible, the one caused by becoming a massive snooze to your partner might be the most hurtful. Naturally, Dash embraces the adventure of finding the girl behind the red notebook because his last relationship left him numb. He wants to be fun and happy, and for however crazy and strong Lily may be, she is imaginative and Dash, though rigidly smart, has stopped dreaming. Thus, they fit so perfectly that, for 10 episodes, your heart palpitates until they meet and walk into the sunset. Frankly, Dash & Lily feels like an adult, 90’s rom-com take that echoes Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks films, but is brought to today’s times with the splashiness and youthfulness of Gen Z.
Dash & Lily | Official Clip | Netflix
Ultimately, the message of Dash & Lily is to find your person! Everyone has someone who will love them as much as the someone that hates them. There will be people that wouldn’t even want to see you in a painting versus those that see you as moving art and look at your picture everyday. Some will find you as annoying and undesirable as toe fungus, while others will see you as adventurous and important like, a galaxy of stars meant to be observed, discovered, and connected. Find that person and don’t worry about the other one. Ultimately, that is what happens for Dash & Lily, and why Netflix has a total win with this series.
