Remember the rom-com everyone was talking about a few months ago? Prime Video’s The Idea of You starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine was not your ordinary rom-com: an older woman dating a much younger man. Hathaway’s character falls for the lead singer in a boy band, who also happens to be 16 years her junior. Conflicts arise, judgements ensue, yet the story of these two kept people talking and asking questions like, “Is the main guy really based off of Harry Styles?”
When Netflix released the trailer for their new movie, A Family Affair with Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, just two months after The Idea of You released, we all thought the same thing: “Didn’t we just see this movie?”
After watching both movies, it’s clear there are many similar themes and conflicts in the plots, but some major differences, too. Here are some we picked up on.
1. The Age Gaps
Although Hathaway and Galitzine’s age difference in The Idea of You seems jarring, the two actors are only 12 years apart in real life. Their characters, Solène (Hathaway) and Hayes Campbell (Galitzine), are 16 years apart. In A Family Affair, writer Brooke Harwood (Kidman) and actor Chris Cole (Efron), are 17 years apart, but the real-life age gap for Kidman and Efron is a whopping 21 years.
Prime Video
2. The “Celebrity” Dilemma
In both movies, the two women fall for a younger guy who also happens to be a celebrity—one’s in a boy band, the other is an actor. The whole “celebrity” thing is a catalyst for Kidman and Hathaway’s characters to question if the relationship is worth moving forward with.
But there’s slightly different dilemmas in the two movies. In The Idea of You, the issue is how intensely the public is scrutinizing Solène and Hayes together. In A Family Affair, the public’s opinion of the relationship is never brought up. It’s Chris’s celebrity douche personality and Brooke’s daughter/Chris’s employee (Joey King‘s Zara) and her reservations about the relationship that complicate their happily ever after.
3. Comedy vs. Romance
While both movies balance the romance and comedy of the rom-com well, The Idea of You leaned a bit heavier into the romance than A Family Affair did. Maybe it’s because Hathaway and Galitzine’s chemistry seemed a lot stronger than Kidman and Efron’s, or maybe the latter’s script was written with a preference for comedic moments, rather than focusing on building up the relationship between Brooke and Chris.
Tina Rowden / Netflix
4. The Daughters
In both movies, Kidman and Hathaway’s characters have daughters who are affected by their relationships with the younger men. Brooke’s daughter is older than Solène’s (24 versus 16), but Solène’s daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), is much more supportive of her mother’s relationship than Brooke’s daughter is. This makes sense—Zara works for Chris and knows him (and his bad behavior) better than Izzy knows Hayes. Zara is much more present in the movie than Izzy is, and Zara is a major factor in how the relationship between Brooke and Chris unfolds. But Izzy is the ultimate reason Solène decides to break it off with Hayes for five years, as Izzy’s life becomes too intense with her mom dating a member of the hottest boy band.
5. The Husbands
In The Idea of You, Solène’s husband left her for a younger woman, leading her on a journey to answer the question, “Who am I besides a mother and wife?” It’s a similar journey Brooke goes on in A Family Affair. However, Brooke’s marriage didn’t end in a messy divorce. Her husband was sick and passed away prior to the movie taking place, but we are told early on they were having marital issues long before his diagnosis.
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6. The Ending
Surprise, surprise: both movies end on a happy note. The couples get back together despite the major conflict (too many online trolls, and gross, out of touch celebrity behavior). The only difference these two endings have is the time jump at the end of The Idea of You where Solène and Hayes get back together after five years apart. Brooke and Chris get back together after what seems like just a few weeks.
What did you think of both movies? Did you like one more than the other? Let us know in the comments section, below.
The Idea of You, Streaming Now, Prime Video
A Family Affair, Streaming Now, Netflix
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