The Idea of You (2024) Review: Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine Elevate This Well-Acted and Thoughtful Rom-Com

Boy meets girl. The boy falls in love with the girl. A few setbacks happen, and whether the two finally reunite or go their separate ways depends on how a love story is told. Either way, it’s the age-old formula we have seen many times in movies, notably the rom-com genre.

The Idea of You, adapted from Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name, is one of those movies. The setup is familiar: We first met Solène (Anne Hathaway), a 40-year-old divorced mum been looking forward to her solo camping trip.

But she has to cancel her plan after she reluctantly agrees to her cheating ex-husband Daniel (Reid Scott) to take their 16-year-old daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin) and her friends to Coachella for a meet-and-greet event with the (fictional) boy band August Moon. Everything’s been paid for and they are VIP tickets that give them the exclusivity.

Once there, Solène wanted to go to a washroom, only to mistakenly end up in one of the trailers. Then comes the obligatory meet-cute moment between her and August Moon’s handsome 24-year-old lead singer, Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine). For him, it’s love at first sight from the moment he laid eyes on her. But it wasn’t until a few meet-ups that they finally started a relationship.

Michael Showalter of 2017’s The Big Sick, who also co-wrote the adapted screenplay alongside Kissing Jessica Stein‘s Jennifer Westfeldt, doesn’t reinvent the wheel of the rom-com genre here. The foundation of its storyline is predictable, especially if you are used to watching this type of movie.

And yet, The Idea of You surprises me with a better-than-expected screenplay addressing the stakes behind the fairy-tale romance between an ordinary woman and a celebrity singer. But Solène isn’t just an ordinary woman since she turns out to be an older divorcee with a teenage daughter. Falling in love with a celebrity who is 16 years younger than her is bound to spark controversy and online hate while breaking the hearts of the swooning fan girls in the same age group as Hayes. The story explores these consequences with enough dramatic urgency and it also helps that Hathaway and Galitzine’s respectively committed performances made me root for their characters’ ordeal being a couple.

Anne Hathaway oozes radiant charisma and it’s hard to resist her megawatt smile. She also shows excellent vulnerability in her character and I love how she depicts Solène more than just a typical “older woman falling in love with a younger guy” tropes. She realises it would be a risk starting a relationship with Hayes and even more so for his celebrity status. But she takes it anyway after the initial hesitation and getting to know more about each other’s backgrounds. Passion ignites and she’s living the best days of her life, leading to one of the most memorable scenes in the movie: the physical intimacy between her and Hayes in the hotel room for the first time around.

Hathaway’s co-star, Nicholas Galitzine delivers a charming turn as Hayes and his character’s sense of maturity pairs well with Solène. Their on-screen chemistry is undeniable from their awkwardness to seeing both of them fall for each other and endure various hardships, complete with the on-and-off romance. Galitzine also proved to be a good singer and yes, it’s he who does the singing during the performances for the boy band, August Moon. The boy band may have been fictional but renowned songwriter Savan Kotecha, best known for working with Ariana Grande and The Weeknd, penned some good and even catchy songs.

The Idea of You is currently streaming on Prime Video.