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The Idea of You is the latest film from director Michael Showalter and stars a new charming pair, Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. Adapted from Robinne Lee's novel of the same name, the film centers on the love affair between a boy band's lead singer and an older single woman.
The story concludes with Hayes visiting Soléne five years after their breakup, leaving audiences with a sense of hope as they share a longing gaze, hinting at a potential happy ending. Fans of Robinne Lee's work were pleasantly surprised as the film's ending deviated from the book.
Showalter, along with Jennifer Westfeldt, co-writes the screenplay of The Idea of You. Additionally, the film features a strong supporting cast, including Ella Rubin, Viktor White, Perry Mattfeld, and Reid Scott.
Premiering at South by Southwest on March 16, 2024, The Idea of You was later released by Amazon MGM Studios via Prime Video on May 2, 2024.
The Idea of You ending explained
In the movie, Soléne is a 40-year-old single mother grappling with personal issues after a messy divorce with her ex-husband. Her life takes a sharp turn when she takes her teenage daughter to Coachella, where she encounters Hayes, the charming lead singer of a boy band.
Soléne and Hayes embark on a passionate journey of romance, that reveals an undiscovered side of their personalities. However, their relationship attracts significant media attention, and public opinion of their pairing is largely negative.
As their relationship progresses, Soléne realizes that there might not be a happy ending to their story because of the age gap, and it is negatively affecting her almost teenage daughter, Isabella. Hayes visits Solène, where she apologizes for the break-up. Hayes confesses his love for her, but it isn't enough to change her mind. They decide to reconvene after five years to revisit their relationship.
In the climax of The Idea of You, Hayes sings a song for Soléne during his appearance on The Graham Norton Show, with Soléne watching on TV. Later, he arrives in California and enters Solène’s art gallery. It’s their first meeting in five years, and she’s happy to see him. The ending and what the future holds for them remain uncertain.
The Idea of You ending is different from the book
The contrast between the endings of The Idea of You movie and book is striking. In the book, the reason for Hayes and Solène's breakup is not Isabella, but their vastly different lives themselves.
Since they are in very different phases of their lives, Solène decides to end their relationship. A few weeks later, during his break from touring, Hayes unexpectedly appears at her home, brimming with hurt feelings over their breakup. They eventually hook up, and he tells her he has quit the band.
But Solène cannot let Hayes sabotage his career for her, so she lies to him, saying that she never loved him and that it was all just a casual affair for her. Heartbroken Hayes returns to his world of music but keeps on pursuing her through texts and calls. Eventually, the texts stop coming, signifying that he moved on with his life, and Solène's sacrifice worked.
“And then one day, they stopped,” Lee concludes the novel. “Long, long before I had stopped loving him.”
Solène and Hayes don't end up together in the book, but they cannot resist the pull they feel towards one another in the movie. They wait five years and resume their romance, picking up where they left off on Solène's doorstep.
Final thoughts on The Idea of You
In an interview with TV Insider, director Michael Showalter revealed that he altered the ending of The Idea of You to give audiences a hopeful ending for the two characters. He said,
"There’s a very long history in romantic movies of changing the ending so that the two main characters are together at the end. There’s a bit of a pragmatic answer to this, which is that movie audiences just want to see at least that there’s some hope for these two characters at the end of the movie."
The ending of The Idea of You is designed to give hope to all the hopeless romantics out there. The ending of the film works as a message for people that there is no conventional age for romance, and if there is love, there is a happy ending.
The Idea of You is currently available for streaming on Prime Video.
