The Idea of You

The Idea of You (2024) is adapted from Robinne Lee's 2017 novel. When the book came out it was widely read as Harry Styles fan fiction; the author pushed back and said it was the story of a woman in her forties. The film sits on the author's side of that argument. Sophie is forty, runs a gallery, and her husband left her for someone younger. Taking her sixteen year old daughter to Coachella, she meets the lead singer of a boy band. Hayes is twenty four. What makes the film interesting is not how the relationship starts but what happens after. The age gap is not a problem for the couple. The problem is what the internet does with it. Once Sophie's name is out, the comments arrive, then her daughter's situation at school, then the gallery's clients. The film says plainly that the same gap in the other direction would not have raised an eyebrow. Anne Hathaway does not treat the part lightly, and the film leans on her. The ending differs from the book, for anyone who has read it. It runs 116 minutes. Good for: romantic drama, age gap stories, and something light that still has something in it. Less good for: there are sex scenes, and plenty of viewers find the final act too tidy.