Lyz Lenz argues that The Idea of You works because it gives adult women a short, self-contained fantasy: Solène, a 40-year-old mother, business owner and ex-wife, is pursued by a handsome young pop star and gets to do what she wants for a while. Lenz does not claim the romance is plausible, and she does not claim the film speaks for all women. Her case rests on a simpler point: grown women are people with appetites, messiness and a need for fun, and a fantasy that treats them that way has value for exactly that reason.
This is a fiction feature, not a documentary. It is covered here because its appeal to adult viewers is a cultural question that a documentary audience may also ask.
The argument in Lenz’s own terms
Lenz’s review, published in Rolling Stone Canada on May 7, 2024, is a signed, first-person piece by a writer who describes herself as a 40-year-old woman and a mother. That position matters. Her reading is an opinion grounded in her own life and in the film, not a survey of women or a measurement of audience response.
She reads the film’s pull as a fantasy of desire and escape. The appeal is not that the relationship would hold up under scrutiny. It is that, for the length of the story, a woman whose days are full of obligations is allowed to be wanted, to be silly and to lose track of her responsibilities. Lenz closes with a single long sentence that carries the argument:
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“And because women, grown women, are human fucking beings, who have sex, who get messy, who want to lose ourselves in a fantasy, who do not have it figured out, who are cringe, who are lost, who are very silly, who are very tired, and who just want to have some fun.” (Lyz Lenz, Rolling Stone Canada, May 7, 2024)
Why the fantasy is not a simple escape
The review is more ambivalent than a straight endorsement. Lenz describes the story’s early pleasure, joy and giddiness, but she points out that the plot keeps interrupting it. Solène’s family context, her daughter’s experience, tabloid and social-media judgment, and real doubts about what the two characters could share all return adult responsibility to the frame.
Rank #2
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That tension is the piece’s most useful idea. The fantasy offers a holiday from ordinary life, but the story does not let that holiday be consequence-free. Readers who come to the film expecting pure wish fulfillment will find that the escape is repeatedly tested, and Lenz treats that testing as part of why the film registers with adult women rather than as a flaw.
The premise, the cast and the adaptation
Anne Hathaway plays Solène. Nicholas Galitzine plays Hayes Campbell, the pop star who begins a romance with her. Jennifer Westfeldt adapted the screenplay and Michael Showalter directed, working from Robinne Lee’s novel of the same name.
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The age gap is central to the premise. The review gives Hayes’s age as 24 in the film and 20 in the novel. Lenz treats the difference as part of the story’s tension, not as a detail to be dismissed, and she sees the adaptation as changing how plausibility is handled.
Film and novel: the differences the review identifies
Lenz names two axes for comparing the versions: characterization and age, and the romantic payoff. The table below lists only what the review states.
Rank #4
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| Element | Film (2024) | Novel by Robinne Lee |
|---|---|---|
| Solène’s age | 40 in the premise | Not stated in the review |
| Hayes Campbell’s age | 24 | 20 |
| Ending | More of a rom-com ending | Less of a rom-com ending, per Lenz |
| Plausibility of the couple | Age difference and practical possibility are part of the tension | Age difference and practical possibility are part of the tension |
The review does not describe the novel’s ending in detail, so a reader who wants the exact difference should read the book or a plot summary of it. Lenz’s comparison is about tone and payoff, not a point-by-point account of every scene.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the review does not establish
- No audience-wide statistic or named research figure about how women respond to the film appears in the review. Any number circulating elsewhere is not supported by this source.
- The piece is a critic’s interpretation, not an interview. It contains no quotable statement from a filmmaker, actor, author or other production participant about intent.
- No first-hand product or viewing test is claimed. The argument rests on the film as Lenz read it.
Watching and reading
The review, dated May 7, 2024, places the film on Prime Video in its release context. Streaming availability varies by country and changes over time, so confirm where the film is currently offered in your region before planning a viewing.
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If you want the source material, the film is based on Robinne Lee’s novel The Idea of You. Because the review’s most concrete comparison is the difference in ending and in Hayes’s age, the book is the natural next read for anyone who wants to see how the adaptation changed the story. Check the current edition and availability at the point of purchase.
Lenz’s piece is a useful way into the film’s appeal, but its reach is limited to one critic’s reading. Treat it as an argument about what the fantasy does for adult women in the story, and as an opening for your own reading of the film.
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