How 'The Idea of You' movie changes the book's controversial ending
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- Warning: spoilers ahead for Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine's film adaptation of "The Idea of You."
- In the book, Solène breaks up with Hayes and ignores his calls and texts until he eventually stops.
- The movie ends on a more promising note than Robinne Lee's 2017 novel.
Director Michael Showalter's film adaptation of Robinne Lee's "The Idea of You" takes a few creative liberties in telling the story of a 40-year-old divorcée falling in love with a 24-year-old boy band member.
"The Idea of You," releasing on Prime Video on Thursday, follows a whirlwind romance between art gallery owner Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) and pop star Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), who meet when she takes her daughter to Coachella.
Here's how the movie's conclusion offers a more promising future for Solène and Hayes than Lee's novel.
In the book, Solène breaks up with Hayes and ghosts him
Alisha Wetherill/Prime
In Lee's novel, Solène ends the relationship because she and Hayes are in different phases of their lives, and her relationship with her 12-year-old daughter Isabelle is suffering because of the negative attention on their age gap romance.
Weeks later while on a few days off from touring, Hayes shows up at her doorstep with eyes swollen from crying about their breakup. They have sex, and he reveals that he quit the band for their relationship. Solène tells him that he can't halt his career, and she doesn't want the added pressure for their relationship to succeed or the guilt if it fails. She makes him leave her house, saying that perhaps she didn't love him, but loved the idea of him.
Hayes returns to the band, with the press never learning that he briefly quit in a last-ditch effort to save their relationship. In the months following their breakup, Hayes repeatedly reaches out to Solène, but she ignores him. Hayes' calls and texts decrease over time until he eventually gives up.
"And then one day, they stopped," Lee writes at the end of the novel. "Long, long before I had stopped loving him."
Lee's 2017 book, which became even more popular during the pandemic, prompted frustration from fans who called the ending abrupt and rushed. Book bloggers who invested in the love story felt blindsided and devastated by the way Solène and Hayes' relationship concluded.
Luckily, fans can rejoice in knowing that their film counterparts have a more favorable outcome.
In the movie, they reconnect years after breaking up
Alisha Wetherill/Prime
In the film, the constant attention become too much for Solène. In addition to the paparazzi and reporters waiting outside Solène's art gallery and home, her daughter Izzy is bullied at school.
Solène breaks up with Hayes because their romance is affecting her relationship with Izzy, who is her main priority. Later that night, Hayes visits Solène, she apologizes, he tells her he loves her, and they kiss. They agree to revisit their relationship in five years, but in the meantime, they'll be open to other chances at happiness.
The movie then jumps years ahead showing Solène and Hayes thriving in their separate worlds. Solène's relationship with Izzy is back to normal and Hayes has gone solo.
While watching TV, Solène sees Hayes, who's now sporting some facial hair, performing on "The Graham Norton Show." He plays guitar and sings a ballad inspired by their romance, with lyrics like, "We still have time." In his interview with the talk show host, Hayes says that he's been touring nonstop, but has upcoming time off in LA to see someone.
When Hayes arrives in California, he visits Solène's art gallery. The movie ends with Solène smiling as she locks eyes with Hayes for the first time in years.
Director Michael Showalter explained the reasoning behind the change in a recent interview with RadioTimes.com, saying that he wanted his film to have a hopeful and uplifting ending.
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