The Idea of You
Amazon Prime Video | Release Date (Streaming): May 2, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubMatthew JacksonMar 21, 2024
It’s a warm, approachable movie that you’ll get blissfully lost in. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 17, 2024
This is Hathaway’s movie, and she owns it: independent, desirable and never, ever desperate. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 1, 2024
Even though “The Idea of You” adheres to many of the time-tested elements of the Rom-Com Playbook, the premise is a bit tricky and could have turned cringey in the wrong hands. Instead, the potential “ick” factor is played for just the right combination of cringe humor and legit insights about how even in 2024, we tend to be more shocked and judgmental about age-gap romances when it’s the woman who is older. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyMaureen Lee LenkerMay 2, 2024
It’s clear those behind The Idea of You hold a genuine affection and care for the story, rather than the ironic eye that a book like this could so easily invite from a lesser team. Read full review
83
IndieWireRafael MotamayorMar 17, 2024
By the end of this adaptation, we get the full picture of this romance and the two people involved. Read full review
80
Vanity FairRichard LawsonMay 1, 2024
The Idea of You is glossy and smart, a cut above the slop so often served to its intended audience. It may force a neat ending, it may strain logic, it may leave some intriguing avenues unexplored, but The Idea of You is otherwise transporting, a fairy tale worthy of a big screen. Read full review
80
Screen DailyNikki BaughanMay 1, 2024
This romcom offers a heady slice of appealing escapism fuelled by the chemistry between its two leads. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineSage DunlapApr 29, 2024
Hathaway, who produced The Idea of You, provides a solid center to the film, with the steamy romance plot coming second only to Solène’s character development. Read full review
80
EmpireElla KempApr 29, 2024
Deceptively courageous and perceptive on parasocial celebrity culture — and on the fallacy that women have expiration dates — The Idea Of You has good, clean fun with two characters it’s impossible not to love. Read full review
80
SlashfilmRyan ScottMar 17, 2024
It's genuinely funny while also basking in the very believable romance of it all. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMay 22, 2024
We fall in love with this couple, just a bit, and want them to be together. And Hathaway and Galitzine make a charmer of a pair. Read full review
75
ABC NewsPeter TraversMay 3, 2024
A 40-ish single mom hooks up with a 20-ish boy band star. Cue the soap suds? Not this time. Somehow sensational Anne Hathaway and swoony Nicholas Galitzine make the cliches dance, bringing humor, heat and unexpected heart to a fantasy for daydream believers. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNell MinowMay 2, 2024
If they gave Oscars for bringing underwritten characters to life, Hathaway and Galitzine would be contenders. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiMay 2, 2024
Directed by Michael Showalter without too much sentimentality or cheese, the guilty-pleasure rom-com (emphasis on rom) is elevated by Hathaway’s layered performance as a swept-off-her-feet California mother that goes well beyond the confines of its supermarket pulp storyline. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 30, 2024
Based on the novel by Robinne Lee and adapted by Jennifer Westfeldt and director Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”), the film is smart, realistic and emotionally honest. Read full review
75
The Film StageJohn FinkMar 25, 2024
While putting attractive stars onscreen in lavish locations isn’t new, here’s a film that does it well and isn’t afraid of showcasing authentic, character-driven humor that nowadays almost seems old-fashioned. Read full review
75
The PlaylistMatthew MonagleMar 18, 2024
The Idea of You is an example of the romance novel adaptation done right, an outstanding balance of chemistry and joke density that never talks down to its audience. Read full review
70
We Got This CoveredApeksha BagchiMay 2, 2024
It is the fairytale you desperately desire and the real-life truth that you detest rolled into a fantasy-charged ride that crashes at the last moment, but doesn't burst your pipe dream of being in the driver seat. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreMay 2, 2024
As Solène, Hathaway gives a particularly lovely and vulnerable performance. She’s radiant as a woman reconnecting with big, swooping emotions, and reminding herself that those feelings are not the exclusive territory of the young. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonMay 2, 2024
More than once, I was struck by how authentically 40 Solène seemed to me — a woman capable of making her own decisions, even ones she thinks might be ill-advised — and how weirdly rare it is to see that kind of character in a movie. Read full review
70
ColliderIsabella SoaresMay 2, 2024
It's enjoyable, sexy, and features a romance worth rooting for — because the only red flag here is the public's reaction to their relationship. Read full review
70
TheWrapAlejandra MartinezMar 17, 2024
In the hands of lesser performers and lesser filmmakers the premise could have fallen apart quickly. The Idea of You, however, has performers who know exactly what they need to bring to deliver a believable, compelling romance worth getting swept up in. Read full review
69
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzMay 2, 2024
Whenever the camera is on Hathaway, which is almost always, the film feels a hundred times more rich and substantive. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleMay 2, 2024
There are surely more interesting and funnier places “The Idea of You” could have gone. But Hathaway and Galitzine are a good enough match that, for a couple hours, it’s easy to forget. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 1, 2024
Anne Hathaway basically saves it from itself. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMay 8, 2024
In The Idea of You, it’s actually fun to buy into the fantasy. Read full review
60
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonMay 2, 2024
Where the film lacks realism and sense, it is made up entirely by Hathaway and Galitzine’s sensational chemistry. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMay 2, 2024
It’s not quite Roman Holiday, but it’s got a charm of its own. Read full review
60
Little White LiesHannah StrongMay 2, 2024
There is something sweet about The Idea of You, even if it is a total fantasy. Perhaps it’s simply the winning charm of Hathaway and Galitzine or the novelty of a rom-com featuring a leading lady over the age of 25. More of that, please! Read full review
60
CNNBrian LowryMay 2, 2024
The Idea of You will likely be most satisfying for those who choose not to sweat the details, enjoying the scenery and fantasy wrapped up in it. Think of it as one of those movies that really reinforces the adage there are no new ideas, just fresh versions of old ones set to different beats. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMay 1, 2024
With Hathaway at its centre, The Idea of You is on far surer footing, in small moments almost threatening to be something far greater but settling into being perfectly acceptable instead, a plane movie par excellence. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 1, 2024
Would the film have ideally been a bit smarter? Perhaps. But it gets all of the dumb stuff just right. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeMar 17, 2024
The Idea of You functions best as a carefree treat — a feel-good romantic comedy that delivers some laughs and bursts with the magnetism of its lead. That it manages to wiggle in some lessons about self-discovery is merely a bonus. Read full review
50
Washington PostAmy NicholsonMay 2, 2024
The cast does its best with the material, especially supporting player Perry Mattfeld, who makes a meal out of her small role as the mistress who broke up Solène and David’s marriage. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 2, 2024
It takes a lot of effort to achieve the “effortlessness” in Hathaway’s performance of a character seemingly tailor-made for her, but she rarely lets that effort show. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithMay 2, 2024
Such is the in-built disposability of this sort of lightweight streaming fodder that those who watch it will probably have forgotten it inside of five minutes. Read full review
40
Film ThreatAlex SavelievMay 2, 2024
It’s stale, a relic from another time that’s strenuously updated and forced into 2024. Read full review
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