THE PREMISE:

"Solène, a 40-year-old single mom, begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

During the peak of the 2010s boy band revival craze, fanfiction proliferated among devoted, often youthful enthusiasts of the individual groups. Typically hosted on the self-published platform Archive of Our Own (often abbreviated as AO3), these fanfictions indulged in a plethora of tropes revolving around fantasies featuring younger women. These narratives commonly depicted a young, ostensibly ordinary girl who incessantly underscores her lack of uniqueness, fortuitously crossing paths with a member of one of these popular boy bands and embarking on a clandestine romance with them.

While these fanfictions were generally not exemplars of literary prowess, their appeal lay more in the vicarious experience they offered to readers. The Idea of You, adapted from the 2017 novel of the same name by actress Robinne Lee, takes a more nuanced approach to this concept, centering on the mother as opposed to the aforementioned teenage girl. 

Around ten minutes into the film, said teenager dismisses the Boy Band featured in the film as "so middle school." Ironically, this remark serves as an apt summation of the film's overall tone. The Idea of You presents an enjoyable adult interpretation of the nostalgic experience of reading fanfiction, making adjustments to cater to the more mature audience it seeks to engage. Despite adhering to the clichés typically found in these stories, it still manages to deliver as a satisfactory romance film.

Although the focus of the romance is restructured to be much more appropriate for a general audience (an adult woman as opposed to a middle school student), many of the tropes are still present. Solène (Anne Hathaway), a completely unremarkable and ordinary single mom, has her very modest plans of solo camping rudely interrupted when she unexpectedly has to take her teenage daughter and friends to Coachella to see the boy band "August Moon." As Solène lounges in the perfect place to unassumingly read her novel, away from the mass hysteria in which she is most definitely not a part of – the VIP tent – she's abruptly accosted by another mom who's convinced she's a closet fan. Dodging this misguided assumption, Solène's escape leads to an entirely coincidental encounter with August Moon heartthrob Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galtizine), where she hilariously confuses his personal trailer for the bathroom.

Of course, it’s not until the meet and greet actually starts that she realizes she didn’t just meet an ordinary person like herself in the bathroom, but instead encountered this super young and attractive famous singer who’s performing at the event. Naturally, like any other entirely believable chance interaction, the entire band starts joking with Solène as she attempts to navigate the meet and greet with her daughter in tow. When Hayes dedicates one of the evening's performances to her, the two embark on a secret and whirlwind romance.

Similar to fanfictions featuring other boy bands, The Idea of You excels in allowing viewers to live vicariously through the experiences of the main character. By repeatedly highlighting the normalcy of Solène’s life, it becomes easy for the average viewer, who may also perceive themselves as pedestrian, to relate to and envision themselves in her shoes. After all, who wouldn’t fantasize about a whirlwind romance with a celebrity?

Perhaps the film's greatest success lies in its commitment to its straightforward romance storytelling. The Idea of You hits all the typical plot beats expected of romance films without poking fun at the tropes it embraces. Despite the potential for the film to devolve into a campy romcom, it maintains a serious, albeit light-hearted, tone throughout. For audiences unfamiliar with the fanfiction subgenre, it may appear to be a typical mid-budget film starring an industry veteran and a very attractive up-and-coming actor.

Hathaway and Galitzine approach their respective roles with sincerity, never once resorting to humor amidst the cliché scenarios they find themselves in or the occasionally lightweight dialogue they're given. Hathaway's career trajectory since her Oscar win in 2013 has been predominantly understated, with only a handful of large-budget films or widespread successes. It's refreshing to witness someone in the full bloom of womanhood (Hathaway herself is 41) engage in a youthful romance with an equally youthful co-star. Watching the film, I found myself leaving the theater with a sense of "good for her," not only for Hathaway herself but also for her character.

Galitzine is no stranger to the romance genre, with most of his professional career's films falling into that category. Surprisingly, despite frequently revisiting the genre, he avoids being typecast, with each role he portrays being distinctly different from the last. In his previous film, Red, White and Royal Blue, another mid-budget Amazon production, he portrayed a gay British monarch, a role vastly different from his character in The Idea of You. Prior to that, he embodied a high school himbo football player womanizer in the cult favorite Bottoms, showcasing his versatility in his career. He's undoubtedly an actor worth keeping an eye on, poised to potentially ascend to movie stardom in his career.

Despite the abundance of cringeworthy and cliché overtones that permeate the film, The Idea of You offers a pleasantly enjoyable romance suitable for casual viewing. While it may be a tad overwhelming for some viewers, and the script grapples with inherent literary challenges inherited from its source material, it's a film that for those who seek it out, or avid fans of romance, will undoubtedly find solace in.