Irish Wish is a 2024 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Janeen Damian from a screenplay written by Kirsten Hansen. The film stars Lindsay Lohan and marks her second consecutive project with Netflix, Damian and Damian’s husband Michael Damian, who served as a producer on the film alongside Brad Krevoy. The plot follows Maddie Kelly (Lohan), a book editor whose dream man is days away from marrying her best friend in Ireland when a spontaneous wish made on an ancient stone magically alters her fate and turns her into the bride. Ed Speleers, Alexander Vlahos, Ayesha Curry, Elizabeth Tan and Jane Seymour also appear in supporting roles.
Irish Wish was officially announced in September 2022 and began production in Ireland that same month. The film was released on March 15, 2024 and debuted at number one on Netflix’s most watched films list the day after its release.[2] Irish Wish also received a limited theatrical release with several screenings at the Bay Theater in Los Angeles starting on the same day it became available for streaming.[3] The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Lohan’s performance and chemistry with Speleers garnered praise.
Maddie Kelly has been secretly in love with Paul Kennedy, the author who she has been editing over the past year. She talks with her mother about it, but not even her best friends Emma and Heather know. Just before Maddie is about to tell him about her feelings, Paul asks her to help him write his next novel rather than profess his feelings as she had hoped. Shortly afterwards, he meets Emma, and they quickly develop a mutual attraction.
Three months later, the three childhood friends are flying with Paul to his Irish home so he and Emma can get married. Maddie puts her feelings aside to be a bridesmaid with Heather. At luggage reclaim, Maddie argues with an Englishman over his bag as it is identical to hers. While stuck at the lost luggage office, she insists that they go on without her. Maddie’s only option to get to the Kennedys is by bus, where she coincides with the man from the baggage reclaim who is here as a photographer and they exchange more banter before her arrival at Kennedy House.
The three friends, Paul and his brother Kory go to a lake for a picnic. They decide to take out two rowboats, but Maddie stays behind, feeling like a fifth wheel. She comes across a wishing bench, and a fairy appears as she is saying she wishes Paul was marrying her. After a strong wind blows though, Maddie falls back, only to wake up as the bride-to-be. With her dream seeming to come true, she starts to doubt things. First, a bike ride Paul proposes to her does not work as she is not so skilled, so Emma takes her place. Then Maddie is expected to wear an heirloom wedding dress rather than the one she brought.
Hearing and seeing the fairy, Maddie chases after her and falls into the Triumph TR convertible of James Thomas, the photographer she had met in the airport and bus. However, as the fairy had altered events, he has no recollection of their meeting, although she does. As the wedding photographer has quit, Paul’s mother happily thanks Maddie for finding him as a replacement. Having just discovered the sheep-shearing event he was meant to shoot got cancelled, he accepts.
That night, as Paul gets into bed with Maddie while she is asleep, when he puts his hand on her, it startles her so she punches him. As he is not fully recovered by morning, she goes with James alone to seek picturesque spots for the wedding photos. On their return to the Kennedys, a tree goes down from the storm, so Maddie and James seek shelter in a nearby pub. They spend the evening together playing darts, having a pint and dancing. They get back just in time for the rehearsal, where the fairy, who is revealed to be Saint Brigid, startles Maddie.
Maddie soon realizes that her real soulmate is not Paul but James. On the morning of the wedding, he can tell she is sad, but she does not admit it. When Maddie tells the priest about her wish to Saint Brigid, he says she is mischievous, not giving people what they want, but what they need. Maddie sees Emma before the ceremony and confirms her feelings for Paul, then promises to try to fix it. When it is her turn to walk down the aisle, she walks in regular clothes and suggests the wedding not go on as they are not in love. Paul jumps James and they fight, as he saw them talking earlier on the grounds, blaming him for her change of heart.
James abruptly leaves, and Maddie follows. He feels badly for being partly to blame for what happened. They kiss, but due to the circumstances, he drives off. Maddie drives back to the wishing bench and asks Saint Brigid to take back her wish, so time rewinds again. Paul and Emma marry, and after the reception, Maddie tells him she will not be editing his books without being credited as co-writer. She then finds James near the pub and he now remembers her from the airport and bus, so they are able to restart.
