The Idea of ​​You, the director explains why the ending of the film is slightly different from that of the novel

The ending of The Idea of ​​Yousentimental film with protagonist Anne Hathaway And Nicholas Galitzine, is slightly different than the novel of the same name on which it is based. The director motivated the choice Michael Showalter with the support of the producer Cathy Schulman. The story is taken from novel Of Robinne Lee and tells the love story that blossoms between a forty-year-old single mother and the front-man of a famous boy band. They meet at Coachella Festival: he will have to perform on stage, while she will accompany her teenage daughter to the concert. From that moment on the life of Solène And Hayes will change forever and they will try to fully experience that love story regardless of prejudices and the strong media attention towards them. The ending of the sentimental film available in streaming on Prime Video presents some differences compared to the novel: what are they and, above all, why were they included? Naturally, below we will refer to what happened at the end of the film, so in order to avoid unwanted spoilers, we advise you to return to this article at a later time, after viewing.

The Idea of ​​You, the director explains why the ending of the film is different from that of the novel

Unlike the novel, the director of The Idea of ​​You felt it was important to make a change because, in his humble opinion, romantic films should suggest hope to the public and therefore leave an open door on the happy ending of the protagonist couple. The film does not directly or definitively answer the question left unanswered, but the director is satisfied with what he achieved. To the microphones of TV Insiderhe said:

There’s a very long history in romantic films of changing the ending so that the two main characters are together at the end. There is a somewhat pragmatic answer to this question, which is that movie audiences just want to see at least that there is some hope for these two characters at the end of the film. We don’t have to tell the public exactly how it ended. We’re not telling the public exactly how things ended. But at least we’re giving the public the opportunity to try to answer it for themselves. As a fan of the genre, I love romantic stories that end with the two main characters having coffee, because that tells me there’s hope.

Unlike the novel, the film ends with a hint of ambiguity. The novel, however, sees Soléne make a decision for the well-being of her family, after that relationship has been repeatedly called into question by public attention, affecting her relationship with her daughter. So she decides to end her relationship with Hayes and the latter even proposes to leave music and the band to live with her, giving up her career. Soléne doesn’t let him and the two separate. In the film, however, that break is not so clear. Producer Cathy Schulman also agrees with the director’s overall vision of The Idea of ​​You, which is why she supported the decision to change the ending slightly compared to the novel:

I felt that if we attempted to make a film that was so uplifting about the possibilities of love, leaving it unfinished would feel unsatisfactory in the eyes of the audience. I felt like the satisfaction factor was different when you read a book and you’re in your own home. There’s a melancholy, you close the book and you think it was an amazing moment for those two people to have shared together. But I felt that for the film the visual impact would be so strong that we had to believe that there was a possibility for the future.