“Rom coms are so back” is what I said to myself as I left the theatre for The Idea of You’s Sydney preview screening, but upon further mulling for this review, I’m not sure this film should even be classed as a romantic comedy. Really, it feels more like a melodrama — and that’s actually what makes it such a powerful film.
The Idea of You follows the whirlwind romance between Solène, a 40-year-old divorcee and art gallery director played by the warm and spirited Anne Hathaway, and Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the earnest and sensitive 24-year-old frontman of fictional boy band August Moon.
The story gets off to an endearingly hokey start when Solène, like every main character in a Y/N Harry Styles fanfiction, finds herself reluctantly dragged along to an August Moon meet and greet. Of course she catches the eye of Hayes — she’s the only person in the room who isn’t trying to impress him, and that makes her special, right?
At one point, she actually tries to read a book at Coachella. So yes, before you ask, The Idea of You is riddled with references to One Direction fan fiction, which is rumoured to have inspired the novel the film is based on. This alone will make it an enjoyable watch for fans old and new.
Despite my affectionate slandering of classic 1D fic tropes, though, I do want to stress that the chemistry between Solène and Hayes is palpable and will have you giggling and kicking your feet. Their connection is immediate, intense and overrides any qualms about their age gap. Though, perhaps this is also the result of Anne Hathaway not looking a day over 29.
Before you know it, the pair are involved in a complex dance of cat and mouse as Hayes pursues Solène who resists her attraction to him because of her age. She wrestles with the fact that while she does enjoy his attention — who wouldn’t? — she can’t help but feel she isn’t allowed to. Hayes, on his part, is shameless about his interest in her. Galitzine is absolutely perfect in this role.
At long last, we get the highly anticipated kiss between the two — I almost squealed — and it’s here that I realise this film has a lot more to offer than I thought.
Despite the climactic nature of the scene, it is notably… retrained. There is no score. The silence is endless and deafening, not just in the film but in the cinema I watched it in. As the audience watched with bated breath, you could have heard a pin drop, and in this moment it became clear to me that The Idea of You was going to be more tender, sensitive and mature than its marketing suggested.
There are other moments throughout the film, including a particularly poignant scene of kaleidoscope lights and rolling shots that was crafted so beautifully it felt transcendent, that reveal this isn’t really a romantic comedy. It’s a melodrama about the nature of desire, and how women of a certain age are excluded from it.
Some might find the film’s decision to barely explore Hayes’ perspective and his undying love for Solène as a shortcoming, but to me, that was the point — this isn’t a romantic comedy about an improbable romance, but an exploration of what older women are allowed to feel.
This film is about Soléne. It’s about her rediscovery of her sexuality at a time when the world is telling her she no longer has one. It’s about her battle to open up and try something new at a time where she feels fossilised. It’s a feminist coming of age of a woman who would already be considered well past that stage — but the truth is, aren’t we always coming of age with every new stage in life? Why do we have to stop growing?
I went into the preview screening of The Idea of You expecting a light-hearted, silly rom com to satisfy the hole in my heart left by Wattpad. I left the theatre ruminating on the role older women are expected to play in our society (really, as sexless, nurturing mother figures) and the ways society punishes them when they refuse to.
If it weren’t for the epilogue, which I feel slightly weakens the story, this would be a perfect film. But alas, rom coms have to have their happy ending.
The Idea of You releases on May 2 on Amazon Prime.
