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Anne Hathaway is making a triumphant return to the rom-com world, y’all. She hasn’t starred in a rom-com in nearly a decade and a half, so The Idea of You is kind of a big deal in that sense. The receptiveness at the SXSW premiere even made her cry.
Whether the melodramatic rom-com era is officially back is for you to decide. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch The Idea of You, from which streaming service you need to when it premieres.
What is The Idea of You about?
Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel (and earlier Harry Styles fan fiction) and Anne Hathaway join forces in the swoon-worthy rom-com The Idea of You. The film follows the romance between 40-year-old art dealer and mother Solène (Hathaway) and 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine, Mary & George), English heartthrob and star of boy band August Moon.
Their twist of fate meeting at Coachella spirals into a clandestine affair, but their extremely different lives put pressure on their relationship. Can it survive the scrutiny and judgment from the public? As Entertainment Reporter Belen Edwards wrote in our summer movie preview, “Tune in for the surreal One Direction similarities, stay for Hathaway and Galitzine’s sparkling chemistry, then get way too invested in the many bops from fictional band August Moon.”
Here’s a sneak peek at the official trailer:
Is The Idea of You worth watching?
For Anne Hathaway’s performance alone, we recommend watching The Idea of You. Mashable Film Critic Siddhant Adlakha writes, “Enough cannot be said about what a tremendous performance Hathaway delivers here, practically warping the movie around her blazing screen presence.”
Sure, on the surface, the premise is a bit cliché, but the pop-star fantasy is “a career-best performance…destined to be remembered among the actress’s career highlights.” And that’s kind of a big deal for a rom-com. In fact, he makes a sweeping declaration in his review of the film, calling The Idea of You a career rebirth for Hathaway. “She’s able to fashion a genre otherwise considered disposable fluff into something deeply moving, writing a new chapter for herself as a character who wrestles with whether or not she deserves a new lease on life.”
While just shy of 20 critic ratings have made it to Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, it’s currently sitting at an impressive 90%. Will it stay as high once more reviews roll in? We’ll see.
Read our full review of The Idea of You.
What streaming service is The Idea of You on?
Rather than getting a proper theatrical release, The Idea of You is being released straight to Prime Video, which Adlakha says is “a shame…because listening to (and more importantly, feeling) an entire audience being swept up in the movie is one hell of a fun experience.”
That means you’ll need either an Amazon Prime account or a separate Prime Video subscription to stream the film. Already a Prime member? Sweet; you’re good to go. Just sign into your account on your browser and navigate to the Prime Video tab or download the Prime Video app on your device in order to watch. Not yet a subscriber? We’ve rounded up the best ways to sign up (and save some money) below.
When is The Idea of You streaming?
The Anne Hathaway-led flick (and thinly veiled Harry Styles fanfic) premieres on Prime Video at 3:00 a.m. ET on May 2, 2024.
Can I get Prime Video for free?
Amazon offers customers a free 30-day trial of its Prime membership, which gives you unlimited access to the Prime Video library. You’ll be able to stream The Idea of You and plenty of other Prime Video originals at no cost. There’s just one catch: the trial is only available to brand-new Prime members or those returning a year or more after canceling.
Just be sure to cancel your Prime subscription before the free trial ends if you want to avoid paying a cent. Otherwise, you’ll owe $14.99 per month.
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The best Prime Video deals
There aren’t many Prime Video streaming deals floating around, but we’ve rounded up the few options you have to save a little bit of dough.
Prime Video deal for students: Save 50% through Prime Student
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Students with a verifiable email address can nab a free six-month trial to Prime through Prime Student, which gives you access to all of the Prime perks and then some. That means you can enjoy half a year of streaming via Prime Video, in addition to free two-day shipping, exclusive deals and discounts, and more. Note: You’ll have to be able to prove you’re actually a student through SheerID, so don’t try using your decade-old student email address. After the trial ends, you’ll have to pay half price for a Prime Student membership — just $69 per year or $7.49 per month.
Best for everyone else: Prime Video only
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For those ineligible for the free trial or Prime Student membership, you sadly won’t be able to watch The Idea of You for free. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. However, you can save some money by opting to subscribe to Prime Video as a standalone service, rather than paying for a full Prime account. A full Prime membership goes for $14.99 per month (or $139 per year, which breaks down to $11.58 per month). Meanwhile, Prime Video as a separate service is only $8.99 per month. While that’s not as great as getting it for free, it’s certainly better than paying the full Prime pricing.
Since Amazon wants you to become a Prime member, signing up for Prime Video as a standalone service can be unnecessarily tricky. Basically, when you go to sign up for a subscription, be sure to select the option to “see more plans” or “change plan” and navigate to the Prime Video only option. Like Prime, you can cancel whenever you please with no strings attached.
Best long-term value: Amazon Prime annual membership
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If you want access to all of the Prime perks but don’t want to pay the full $14.99 per month, you can choose an annual membership for $139 instead. That breaks down to just $11.58 per month, which saves you about 22%. You’ll still get access to Prime Video to watch The Idea of You, as well as all of the other perks, like fast and free shipping, free Grubhub+, access to Amazon Music, and exclusive deals and savings for an entire year. If you’re currently on the monthly plan, navigate to your Prime membership under your account details to change plans.