‘The Idea of You’ Movie Review: Hayes and Solène’s Steamy Romance Gets Tamed Down But Maintains An Exciting Love Story

I fell in love with the idea of Hayes Campbell and Solène Marchand from the second they interacted in Robinne Lee’s 2017 acclaimed novel The Idea of You. In the book, which I love so much I would marry it if it manifested itself into a man, Solène is a 39 soon to be 40-year-old divorced mom whose heartbreak from her ex-husband Daniel makes her question the validity of love. When Daniel flakes on an opportunity to take their daughter Isabelle aka Izzy and her friends to a special meet and greet/concert for wildly popular British boy band August Moon in Las Vegas, Solène steps in to chaperone. Unbeknownst to Solène, her life is about to change when sparks fly between the band’s lead singer, the sexy and charming Hayes Campbell, who is considerably younger than her. The book explored the pitfalls of fame and emotional vulnerability of getting to know someone while detailing a sensual and thrilling love affair between Hayes and Solène. I highly recommend it.

Nicholas Galitzine as Hayes Campbell in “The Idea of You.” Photo: Amazon MGM Studios

Prime Video has taken Robinne Lee’s beloved book and adapted the work into a feature film that premieres on the streaming service on Thursday, May 2. Michael Showalter took on the directing helm for “The Idea of You” also writing the screenplay with Jennifer Westfeldt. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine star in the film as Solène and Hayes with Reid Scott as Solène’s ex Daniel and Ella Rubin as Solène and Daniel’s daughter Izzy. Rounding out the August Moon boys are Raymond Cham Jr., Jaiden Anthony, Viktor White, and Dakota Adan as Oliver, Adrain, Simon and Rory, respectively. The premise of “The Idea of You” is essentially the same as the book, but there are significant changes that extreme lovers of the book will pick up on immediately. The changes didn’t hurt the overall feel of the film but knowing that book like the back of my hand and knowing how amazing it is I was a little disappointed in some ways. I know adapted work isn’t supposed to be a page for page recreation and I’m going to try to not keep comparing the book versus the film, but there was a level of undeniable sexiness, seduction, and yearning in that book that clearly is hard to bring to screen. I’ll explain further a little later.

(L-R) Ella Rubin as Izzy and Anne Hathaway as Solène Marchand in “The Idea of You.” Photo: Amazon MGM Studios

The film opens with Solène gearing up for a camping trip and mentally preparing to turn 40. She’s at a point in her life where she’s content with running her art gallery in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, prides herself on the open relationship she has with her daughter, and enjoys her group of friends, but she doesn’t put too much effort into her love life. She feels things are fine how they are. When Daniel flakes at the last minute, Solène is now tasked to accompany Izzy and her friends to Coachella where they have VIP access to August Moon, a band Izzy once loved but is so “7th grade” now. During a chance meeting Solène meets Hayes and their story starts there. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine were so perfectly cast it’s astounding.

(L-R) Nicholas Galitzine as Hayes Campbell and Anne Hathaway as Solène Marchand in “The Idea of You.” Photo: Amazon MGM Studios

In many press interviews, Hathaway raves about how the moment Nick entered the audition room she knew he was Hayes Campbell and she’s so real for that. Galitzine easily captured the Hayes I had in my head when reading the book with his deliciously deep English cadence and effortless charm. Paired with the delightful and witty Hathaway, the moments between them were electrifying, but not enough. The running time of the film seemed to quicken the pace at which Hayes and Solène got to know each other while I craved for a more unfolding flower (IYKYK) tempo. If “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Oppenheimer” can be 15 hours long, then I want my romance movies to have that same opportunity to really flesh out the story. So much was left out regarding Hayes and Solène’s courtship, which was such a pity.

The music by August Moon in the film is as much a character as a physical person and I felt two ways about that. Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer Savan Kotecha was in charge of creating the August Moon sound and he did an amazing job! The songs featured in the film are catchy, fun, performed well on stage, and Galitzine (who does the heavy lifting with the vocals) sounds incredible, but I didn’t need full length sequences of them. Was I watching “The Idea of You” or clips from August Moon’s rockumentary? The music moments got more attention to detail than the romantic ones. Those moments were montaged and I wanted to see those specific romantic moments and the courtship played out more.

(L-R) Viktor White as Simon, Jaiden Anthony as Adrain, Nicholas Galitzine as Hayes Campbell, Dakota Adan as Rory, and  Raymond Cham Jr. as Oliver in “The Idea of You.” Photo: Amazon MGM Studios

A big part of Solène’s personality in the book is her love for art. It was a big part of the story in general because she referenced art constantly, her home was immaculately compiled with art which gave her a glamorous demeanor, and it was a big downfall in her relationship with Daniel because he didn’t understand her love for it. The way Hayes grabbed onto her love for art and made an effort to learn it for Solène was a part that should have been in the movie for people to really see how Hayes adored Solène. The adoration between them didn’t come off strong in the film.

(L-R) Nicholas Galitzine as Hayes Campbell and Anne Hathaway as Solène Marchand in “The Idea of You.” Photo: Amazon MGM Studios

The Idea of You book has some pretty steamy moments between Hayes and Solène. In the way they have sexual banter as foreplay, the actual foreplay, and when they have sex. Those elements were aggressively missing from this movie. I can only speak for myself, but I think as a whole we are horny for a good rom-dram that gives those “9 ½ Weeks,” “Unfaithful,” “Body Heat” vibes. A project that isn’t afraid to be sexy and to be very unapologetic about it. The book had a plethora of juicy scenarios to choose from and none made the cut which was a disservice to the chemistry Anne and Nick had. Their best bit was Hayes and Solène first kiss in the film. Other than that, was I watching a rated R movie or PG because you could have fooled me.

(L-R) Nicholas Galitzine as Hayes Campbell and Anne Hathaway as Solène Marchand in “The Idea of You.” Photo: Amazon MGM Studios

Another big component to “The Idea of You” was the aspect of fame and how public perception never tells the whole story. The film also perfectly touched on sexism associated with dating stigmas and how contradictory it is for women to be scrutinized for “questionable” dating choices, but it’s never the same for men.

Outside of that if you have no knowledge of The Idea of You book then the film will be an adequate introduction to Hayes and Solène’s love story. At the root it’s about vulnerability and learning to trust again after being heartbroken (and not just in a romantic way). For women “The Idea of You” shows life continues after a certain age. We don’t have a cut off for when we can find love, or love again, experience new things, and make significant shifts in life fearlessly. Fans of the book won’t be completely disappointed with the changes and will be satisfied with the ending. It was the one change I was hoping for. If you open your heart and mind to this story you’ll laugh, cry, and enjoy the ride.

“The Idea of You” streams May 2 on Prime Video.

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