“Falling for Figaro” focuses on twentysomething American Millie (Danielle Macdonald), whose life in London is quite comfortable. She is a trust fund manager at an investment firm, earns an impressive salary, drives her own luxury car, and owns her own beautiful home. She’s surpassed the success of her former boss Charlie (Shazad Latif), yet he doesn’t seem to mind, and their long-term relationship is fairly stable. But is Millie truly happy at work, or truly fulfilled by her job? No on both counts. 

What really moves Millie is opera, whether she’s attending a live show or watching clips of performances online. So Millie takes a chance on herself: She’ll spend a year training in opera singing, and then she’ll try out for the national “Singer of Renown” contest. If she fails, she’ll go back to her old career—and nearly everyone seems to think she will, including Charlie, who is more tolerant than supportive. But Millie is undeterred: “Why shouldn’t I follow my heart? I’m not that old, and it is not too late,” she insists, and Ben Lewin and Allen Palmer’s script is peppered with confident declarations that Macdonald delivers with poise and self-assurance. 

The best way to break into the opera world is through the Singer of Renown competition, the winner of which receives a contract with an opera company. So Millie travels to a small village in the Scottish Highlands, where she becomes a student of the “Mad Diva” Meghan Geoffrey-Bishop (Joanna Lumley). As a coach, Meghan is demanding and cruel, and charges Millie exorbitant rates—and she’s also training one other student, Max (Hugh Skinner). Her surrogate son who also serves as the chef, plumber, and maintenance man for the Filthy Pig pub next door to Meghan’s studio, Max has competed in Singer of Renown in previous years, and has always been the runner-up. Millie’s arrival signifies not just a divide in Meghan’s attention, but also means Max has a new rival. 

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