2024’s Rom-Com Revival Continues With ‘The Idea of You’
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2024 HAS MARKED a big year for the romantic comedy genre. Just a few months ago, the hit film Anyone But You had viewers singing along to Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.” Now, the film adaptation of Robinne Lee’s fanfiction-inspired novel, The Idea Of You, has lots of positive press in the last few months, and has audiences ready to see if it lives up to what they anticipated. Anne Hathaway leads the film as Solène Marchand, a middle-aged mom attempting to find love again after her husband cheated.
However, the story takes a unique turn. Shortly after Solène’s 40th birthday, she heads to Coachella with her daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), who has VIP passes courtesy of her dad to a meet-and-greet with the band August Moon—one she has notably outgrown, being in high school and not in seventh grade. While there, Solène winds up meeting the British boy band member Hayes Campbell, played by Nicholas Galitzine (Bottoms, Red, White & Royal Blue). Compared to the other mothers at the event who were already infatuated with the group’s members, Hayes falls for her exactly as she is—a down-to-earth Californian who runs an art gallery.
Soon becoming a couple, Hayes and Solène pose as employer and employee, allowing her to travel to Paris with him on the band’s European tour. As fans have pointed out, the plot seems to pull inspiration from Harry Styles of One Direction, even though it was written before his days of dating Olivia Wilde. However, the book’s author has tried shifting away from the comparison, pointing out it also focuses on Solène going on a new journey of self-discovery.
“A few years ago, my husband was away on business, and I was up late surfing music videos on YouTube when I came across the face of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to, and it was so aesthetically perfect it took me by surprise,” Lee shared in 2017. “I discovered that he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted.”
Despite the rumors, It wouldn’t be a boy band-themed film without some tunes. Alongside the fictional August Moon songs crafted by One Direction’s former songwriter, the music selection is one of the best parts of the film, weaving in Maggie Rogers, Fiona Apple, and more. These are tracks that it's possible parents and their children alike have soundtracked their lives to.
With Hathaway bringing her movie star status to Prime Video's streaming platform, and Galitzine pulling in younger fans as a popular rising actor, The Idea of You creates a seemingly perfect recipe to get viewers of all ages to watch. Will the fictional characters’s relationship crack from the societal perception and grueling pop star lifestyle? You’ll have to tune in to see if the two wind up with a happy ending.
What is The Idea Of You about?
Paying tribute to boy bands of the past, The Idea Of You is a modern-day rom-com that finds mother-of-a-high-schooler Solène getting swept up in a whirlwind romance with Hayes Campbell—a member of the fictional group August Moon. After taking her teenage daughter to a Coachella meet-and-greet with her friends, she stumbles into Hayes’s trailer backstage while trying to find a bathroom.
Hayes becomes instantly infatuated with Solène, as he soon shows up at the art gallery she works at, offering to buy every piece. The two dive deeper into their relationship, struggling to keep it a secret from Solène’s family and the general public—as they deals with the pressures of a mid-twenties pop star dating an older woman.
Where to watch The Idea Of You
For those looking to catch The Idea Of You, the flick is currently available to stream exclusively on Prime Video. If you want to watch it from the comfort of your living room, fans of both Academy Award-winner Hathaway and rising star Galitzine can gather their friends for a fun movie night. You can even reflect on the days of worshipping your favorite pop boy group in the process.
It is also playing at a small number of select theaters around the country, primarily at Regal Theater and Cinemark locations. At the moment, no other major theater chains or smaller spots seem to be offering showtimes for it, given it received a simultaneous streaming release. To find if the movie is screening at a theater near you, Fandango is the best spot to check for local showtimes.
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