In The Idea of You, Anne Hathaway plays a divorced mother who takes her daughter to Coachella where she has a chance encounter with Hayes Campbell, a singer in the boy band August Moon, and they fall in love.
If that sounds like fan fiction, well, that’s because it is. Probably.
The Idea of You is based on author Robinne Lee’s novel of the same name, which was allegedly inspired by Harry Styles during his One Direction days. “I came across the face of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to, and it was so aesthetically perfect it took me by surprise,” Lee explained in a 2017 interview. “It was like… art. I spent a good hour or so Googling and trying to figure out who this kid was, and in doing so, I discovered that he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted.” She doesn’t specifically name Harry Styles, but he famously has a weakness for older women (nine years is technically “older”).
Lee later said The Idea of You was “never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles,” but come on. Nicholas Galitzine, the actor who plays Hayes Campbell, is very Harry-coded in the film’s trailer, which you can watch above.
The Idea of You centers on Solène (Hathaway), a 40-year-old single mom who is serendipitously blindsided by a second chance at love. Solène’s husband Dan ended their marriage, and now he has canceled his Coachella trip with their 16-year-old daughter. Solène picks up the pieces and braves the crowds and desert heat. There, she meets and begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Galitzine), the lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet, August Moon. She finds herself dodging the 24-hour news cycle, all while balancing her new globe-trotting romance, career, and parenting a teenage daughter.
The Idea of You, which is directed by Wet Hot American Summer legend Michael Showalter (!), premieres on Amazon Prime Video on May 2.
