I flipped my phone’s screen to the left and stumbled on a news snippet, “Nicholas Galitzine says he drew inspiration from BTS’ effortless stage performance to play his role in Idea of You.” I clicked on the snippet and didn’t need to be told twice. I downloaded the movie and prepared to be dazzled.
The Idea of You was initially released in March 2024. A Harry Styles fan fiction by Robinne Lew brought to life. It is directed by Michael Showalter and stars Anne Hathaway who casts as Solène Marchand and Nicholas Galitzine who casts as Hayes Campbell. It’s an age-gap rom-com and not nearly two hours long.
Solène Marchand is a 40 year old Silver Lake gallery owner. She is divorced and has a 17 year-old daughter – Izzy, a former fan of August Moon, the hottest and most popular boy band on the planet. Solène has plans to go solo camping to mark off her fortieth birthday but that goes with the wind when Daniel, her douchebag ex-husband, bails out on his duty to take Izzy and her friends to Coachella.
Solène takes them to Coachella and unknowingly stumbles on Hayes Campbell, 24 year old member of the boy band - August Moon, in his trailer while on a trip to the bathroom. The spark between them is instant and when Hayes seemingly dedicates a song to her during his group’s performance in Coachella, the spark between them is sealed. Thereafter, Hayes relentlessly pursues her till she gives in to the idea of him and his love. But in a society where their blossoming love is considered forbidden, the odds are strongly against them. Can they triumph or would it end up becoming just an idea?
I’ve talked about what initially drew me into the movie but there are a few things that kept me. First off, it was upon finishing the movie that I found out that the movie was spurned from a Harry Styles fan fiction and based on what was said, was a bit different from what happened in the book.
I usually say that no matter how mid a plot or storyline is, good directing and epic acting can bring it all to life. Maybe the storyline of “Idea of You” had flaws but you’d barely notice it because of how well Anne Hathaway and Nicholas interpreted their roles. Their chemistry was nearly tangible, jumping delightfully out of each scene making the movie incredibly scintillating to watch. The plot in itself was not enough to get me immersed but their stellar acting did it for me.
Another thing that drew me into the movie was the subject matter and sub-theme which was a switched form of age-gap and feminism respectively. I’ve become bored and disturbed out of my mind by the usual Age-gap movies which involve older men and minors romantically. The idea that it is romanticised making it somewhat of a normalcy is usually quite disturbing for me.
The Idea of You is different in the sense that it’s blossoming love between two consenting adults and how the society is yet to be warmed up to it even though a switched role(being an older guy and a younger woman) would not raise too many eyebrows. It was wonderful seeing that stereotype defied and though the movie didn’t become unrealistic to portray that society came to accept their love, it showcased a hope that we would learn not to feel weird or judgemental about relationships like this.
Lastly, I loved the ending. I learned later that the book ended quite differently but the bitter-sweet ending to this one had me in tears. A balanced and more realistic sort of ending that left me satisfied and made me shed a tear or two. All the soundtracks used were ones I know and adore and in short, the entirety of the movie is one to remember. To be honest, the storyline isn’t so great and not necessarily my cup of tea but I'm glad I didn’t get to cringe and generally enjoyed each scene of the movie.
At the end of the day, I’m giving The Idea of You a solid 4.3/5 stars. I hope you enjoy it just as much if or when you get to watch it.
Thumbnail from IMDB
