A Rom-Com You Might Have Written

As far back as 1953’s Roman Holiday, when Audrey Hepburn played a princess who falls for a reporter, Hollywood has drawn on the formula of an asymmetrical romantic union between a celebrity and a regular person. It’s an appealing idea: Celebrities are meant to be pined after, and the prospect of being chosen by them must be uniquely validating. That’s why much of the fan fiction on sites such as Archive of Our Own, where users write their own lengthy tales riffing on pop culture, falls squarely into the domain of “real person” fan fiction, or “RPF.” Such digital spaces may be relatively new, but fantasizing about a celebrity meet-cute isn’t; as my colleague Kaitlyn Tiffany noted, fans have been writing RPF since at least the dawn of Beatlemania.

The Idea of You, a new romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway, is the latest entrant in this genre. Its source material, a 2017 novel by Robinne Lee, was inspired partly by the former One Direction singer-songwriter Harry Styles, a pop star with an especially prolific and passionate following. Thankfully, the film is more than a fan-fiction fever dream, taking standard rom-com wish fulfillment and dialing it up to unexpectedly charming effect. The gender-flipped Notting Hill kicks into gear when the boy-band frontman Hayes Campbell (played by Nicholas Galitzine) tells an amusingly transparent fib: “I have been dying to go to Glendale for the longest time, you have no idea,” he says to Solène (Hathaway), the Subaru-driving divorcée he meets in a chance mix-up at Coachella. His apparent need to be whisked away to the unglamorous Los Angeles suburb is, of course, really about spending more time with her.

After surprising Solène at the gallery she owns—and purchasing every piece in her catalog—Hayes cheekily asks her to help him source even more art, and jumps at the chance to accompany her to a distant warehouse. The young musician’s eagerness to brave L.A. traffic alongside Solène is arguably just as far-fetched as the circumstances of their meeting. But The Idea of You isn’t interested in rationalizing the mega-celebrity’s affections, instead letting audiences bask in the most charming parts of the fantasy. We watch Hayes listen in awe as Solène speaks with enthusiasm and authority about art. Away from the pandemonium of Coachella, the singer relaxes into the role of observer rather than performer. Their banter is easy, fun; Hathaway’s talent for physical comedy shines through, and sets up later moments of vulnerability with surprising depth.

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In Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt’s adaptation of the novel, which Showalter also directs, Hayes is four years older, and Solène’s daughter has aged out of being a superfan of his band. These changes dampen the recklessness of Solène’s decision to embark on their romance, making it far easier to enjoy the chemistry between Hathaway, who is 41, and Galitzine, who is 29. Though Hayes is a more underwritten character, both actors bring undeniable tenderness to their roles while also reveling in the kind of charged, witty repartee that modern rom-coms rarely offer.

The delight of watching these two lead actors essentially just stand around and talk helps set The Idea of You apart from other recent romantic comedies, including Red, White & Royal Blue (which Galitzine also starred in) and the 2022 J. Lo vehicle, Marry Me, which felt like a thinly veiled attempt at dressing up the star’s real-life romantic woes. In The Idea of You, however, it’s satisfying to see Solène relax into the experience of being desired by a younger man, because the film takes time to show her grappling with mundane, grown-up problems—such as the ex-husband who not only cheated on her with a younger woman but also routinely shirks his parenting duties. (The reason Solène meets Hayes is that her ex bailed on their daughter at the last minute, leaving Solène to chaperone a group of teens to a music festival.)

At their best, classic tropes such as RPF have served as jumping-off points for compelling original stories, or as entry points for fan-fiction writers looking to build community online. In recent years, publishing-oriented influencers on TikTok have introduced a new generation of readers to terms such as only one bed or grumpy/sunshine, which now belong to a broader cultural vocabulary popularized by social media. But this legibility can have uncanny consequences for art outside the fan-fiction realm: A quick scan of popular TikTok tags and Google Trends can encourage writers, publishers, and Hollywood gatekeepers to churn out reductive works that feel algorithmically generated. The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell–led box-office phenom, Anyone but You, brought in more than $200 million in ticket sales despite never transcending the “enemies to lovers” and “fake dating” formulas that were clearly central to its marketing.

The Idea of You’s attention to Solène’s anxieties about motherhood, aging, and public scrutiny helps it feel like more than just an idealized depiction of winning a celebrity’s heart. The film is still decidedly earnest, though, which also makes it a welcome departure from They Came Together, the anachronistic rom-com satire that Showalter co-wrote more than decade ago, and that was released during a particularly rough era for the genre. This one doesn’t try to sell its meet-cute as realistic, but the story does feel fully invested in the relationship at its core, not just in serving up Millennial and Gen Z nostalgia bait by having the one-time Princess of Genovia fall for a Harry Styles avatar. The romance is not cloaked in irony; neither protagonist is too cool to embarass themselves in the name of love. Other movies might be adhering to the letter of rom-com law, but The Idea of You really commits to the spirit.