Way back to 1953’s Roman Vacation, when Audrey Hepburn performed a princess who falls for a reporter, Hollywood has drawn on the formulation of an asymmetrical romantic union between a star and an everyday individual. It’s an interesting concept: Celebrities are supposed to be pined after, and the prospect of being chosen by them should be uniquely validating. That’s why a lot of the fan fiction on websites comparable to Archive of Our Personal, the place customers write their very own prolonged tales riffing on popular culture, falls squarely into the area of “actual individual” fan fiction, or “RPF.” Such digital areas could also be comparatively new, however fantasizing a few superstar meet-cute isn’t; as my colleague Kaitlyn Tiffany famous, followers have been writing RPF since not less than the daybreak of Beatlemania.
The Concept of You, a brand new romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway, is the most recent entrant on this style. Its supply materials, a 2017 novel by Robinne Lee, was impressed partly by the previous One Course singer-songwriter Harry Types, a pop star with an particularly prolific and passionate following. Fortunately, the movie is greater than a fan-fiction fever dream, taking normal rom-com want achievement and dialing it as much as unexpectedly charming impact. The gender-flipped Notting Hill kicks into gear when the boy-band frontman Hayes Campbell (performed by Nicholas Galitzine) tells an amusingly clear fib: “I’ve been dying to go to Glendale for the longest time, you don’t have any concept,” he says to Solène (Hathaway), the Subaru-driving divorcée he meets in an opportunity mix-up at Coachella. His obvious have to be whisked away to the unglamorous Los Angeles suburb is, in fact, actually about spending extra time along with her.
After shocking Solène on the gallery she owns—and buying each piece in her catalog—Hayes cheekily asks her to assist him supply much more artwork, and jumps on the probability to accompany her to a distant warehouse. The younger musician’s eagerness to courageous L.A. visitors alongside Solène is arguably simply as far-fetched because the circumstances of their assembly. However The Concept of You isn’t excited about rationalizing the mega-celebrity’s affections, as an alternative letting audiences indulge in probably the most charming components of the fantasy. We watch Hayes pay attention in awe as Solène speaks with enthusiasm and authority about artwork. Away from the pandemonium of Coachella, the singer relaxes into the position of observer quite than performer. Their banter is straightforward, enjoyable; Hathaway’s expertise for bodily comedy shines by means of, and units up later moments of vulnerability with shocking depth.
In Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt’s adaptation of the novel, which Showalter additionally directs, Hayes is 4 years older, and Solène’s daughter has aged out of being a superfan of his band. These modifications dampen the recklessness of Solène’s determination to embark on their romance, making it far simpler to benefit from the chemistry between Hathaway, who’s 41, and Galitzine, who’s 29. Although Hayes is a extra underwritten character, each actors carry plain tenderness to their roles whereas additionally reveling within the form of charged, witty repartee that fashionable rom-coms not often supply.
The delight of watching these two lead actors primarily simply stand round and discuss helps set The Concept of You other than different current romantic comedies, together with Pink, White & Royal Blue (which Galitzine additionally starred in) and the 2022 J. Lo car, Marry Me, which felt like a thinly veiled try at dressing up the star’s real-life romantic woes. In The Concept of You, nevertheless, it’s satisfying to see Solène calm down into the expertise of being desired by a youthful man, as a result of the movie takes time to point out her grappling with mundane, grown-up issues—such because the ex-husband who not solely cheated on her with a youthful girl but additionally routinely shirks his parenting duties. (The rationale Solène meets Hayes is that her ex bailed on their daughter on the final minute, leaving Solène to chaperone a bunch of teenagers to a music pageant.)
At their greatest, traditional tropes comparable to RPF have served as jumping-off factors for compelling authentic tales, or as entry factors for fan-fiction writers trying to construct neighborhood on-line. Lately, publishing-oriented influencers on TikTok have launched a brand new technology of readers to phrases comparable to just one mattress or grumpy/sunshine, which now belong to a broader cultural vocabulary popularized by social media. However this legibility can have uncanny penalties for artwork exterior the fan-fiction realm: A fast scan of standard TikTok tags and Google Developments can encourage writers, publishers, and Hollywood gatekeepers to churn out reductive works that really feel algorithmically generated. The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell–led box-office phenom, Anybody however You, introduced in greater than $200 million in ticket gross sales regardless of by no means transcending the “enemies to lovers” and “faux courting” formulation that had been clearly central to its advertising and marketing.
The Concept of You’s consideration to Solène’s anxieties about motherhood, getting older, and public scrutiny helps it really feel like extra than simply an idealized depiction of successful a star’s coronary heart. The movie remains to be decidedly earnest, although, which additionally makes it a welcome departure from They Got here Collectively, the anachronistic rom-com satire that Showalter co-wrote greater than decade in the past, and that was launched throughout a very tough period for the style. This one doesn’t attempt to promote its meet-cute as sensible, however the story does really feel absolutely invested within the relationship at its core, not simply in serving up Millennial and Gen Z nostalgia bait by having the one-time Princess of Genovia fall for a Harry Types avatar. The romance isn’t cloaked in irony; neither protagonist is just too cool to embarass themselves within the title of affection. Different films is perhaps adhering to the letter of rom-com legislation, however The Concept of You actually commits to the spirit.