'The Idea of You': The Biggest Differences Between the Book and Movie Starring Anne Hathaway

Note: This post contains spoilers for The Idea of You book and movie, now streaming on Prime Video.

Anne Hathaway plays a 40-year-old gallery owner who captures the eye of a popular boy-band singer (Nicholas Galitzine) in The Idea of You, and fans can't get enough of Soléne and Hayes's love story.

Based on the book of the same name by Robinne Lee, the film tells "the story of a woman blooming," as Hathaway told PEOPLE at the SXSW premiere.

In The Idea of You, her character, Soléne, embarks on a life-altering romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, a member of August Moon (a One Direction-esque group), after a chance meeting at Coachella.

As Hathaway said, reflecting on the overarching story the film tells, "I don't know why we don't have more stories about human beings blooming at any age. We're always coming of age, all the time."

The movie debuted on Prime Video May 2, and while it stems from the bestselling 2017 novel, some major changes were made to bring the story to life.

Here's a look at some of the differences between the book and the adaptation.

Soléne and Hayes's first meeting

In the book, Soléne is chic and possibly a tad overdressed as she accompanies her daughter, Isabelle, and her two friends to an August Moon meet -and-greet in the basement of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, hours before their sold-out concert.

When it's her daughter's turn to meet the band, Hayes calls Isabelle over and she poses with him — but not before Hayes cheekily asks if Soléne is Isabelle's older sister, which she quickly corrects. Hayes then convinces Soléne to pose for the photo with the band too and asks the girls where they're sitting at the concert so he can bring them backstage.

In the film, Soléne stumbles upon Hayes entirely accidentally as she walks into his trailer in the VIP section of Coachella thinking it's a bathroom. August Moon is a headline performer at the festival in this version of the story, and Soléne brings her daughter and three friends to meet the band before seeing their show. During the meet-and-greet, the chemistry is palpable between Hayes and Soléne, and when he goes on stage later that night, he only has eyes for her in the crowd.

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Soléne's daughter's relationship with Hayes — and her age

In the book, August Moon makes 12-year-old Izzy's world go round. Meeting them at their concert is a dream come true, and any time Hayes remembers her name, she seemingly collapses internally. Due to the depth of her love for the band, Soléne's relationship with Hayes — and all the initial secrecy around it — is a gut-wrenching blow to Izzy and is what ultimately drives them apart, as Soléne can't handle how much it's hurting her.

In the film, Izzy (Ella Rubin) makes it as clear as possible right off the bat that August Moon is "so seventh grade." While she loses her words a little bit when she meets her favorite member, Rory (Dakota Adan), on the whole she's unfazed by the world's biggest boy band.

As her summer at camp ends and the photos of Soléne and Hayes break the internet, Izzy, who is 16 in the film, remains calm and even encourages her mother to seek Hayes out and rekindle things.

When they do, she's something like their biggest fan — her and her two friends who joined her at Coachella agree to delete all social media so Soléne can pursue the relationship, and she acts completely composed as she does homework while one of the world's biggest pop stars makes coffee in her kitchen. Eventually, though, the backlash she's facing at school reaches Soléne, and she calls things off with Hayes to spare her daughter's feelings.

Alisha Wetherill/Prime

Soléne's relationship with her ex-husband Daniel

In the book, Soléne separated from her ex-husband Daniel fairly recently, and he's moved on with Eva, whom he ends up proposing to and marrying. Eva also winds up pregnant — all of which is poignant salt in the wound for Soléne as she navigates her rocky relationship with Hayes. 

Things look a little bit different in the film, though. While Soléne has an equally tense relationship with her ex-husband in the film, there's a deeper level of distrust between them.

The first time she and Hayes hang out, she shares that Daniel (Reid Scott) cheated on her during their marriage with a younger lawyer at his firm named Eva (Perry Mattfeld). While Soléne says she was willing to push past it to preserve their family, Daniel told her he was in love with the other woman.

Midway through the film, after Daniel gets Izzy an ostentatious 17th birthday present, Eva confides in Soléne that she's leaving Daniel. She even asks if Soléne would go out for Thai food with her, an idea the gallery owner swiftly shuts down.

Courtesy of Prime

Soléne's dynamic with Hayes's bandmate and best friend, Oliver

A primary conflict in the book arises from Hayes's August Moon bandmate Oliver, who finds any and every excuse to stir things up for Soléne when he sees her. Between subtle touches in private moments and making inappropriate comments about Hayes's affinity for older women, Oliver poses a significant threat to their blossoming relationship. Though Soléne keeps most of his indiscretions to herself, things come to a heated head eventually.

The added complication: Hayes lost his virginity to Oliver's older sister and thinks Oliver is none the wiser, though he is eventually proven wrong in spectacular — and violent — fashion.

In the film, Hayes' relationship with his bandmates comes completely secondary to his relationship with Soléne — and she doesn't have much of one with the boys, either. During their initial jaunt through Europe as she joins him on their European tour, she spends the most amount of time with the boys, but even still, no relationship is built among them. Oliver (Raymond Cham Jr.) has his cheeky moments, but he's not as keen romantically on Soléne.

Oliver does, however, make a particularly divisive comment while they're in the South of France that causes the first rupture in Soléne and Hayes's bubble. While sitting by the pool at their luxurious villa, Soléne gushes about what she thought was a romantic gesture by Hayes at Coachella — him singing "Closer" and dedicating it to her — prompting Oliver to harshly deliver the news that pretending to change the setlist and singing "Closer" is actually a "bit" the band frequently puts on for women in the audience. The revelation affects Soléne so much that she gets on a plane, and so begins the first separation between her and Hayes.

Alisha Wetherill/Prime

Soléne's gallery — and Hayes's generosity

Soléne's identity as a gallery owner rings true both on the page and screen, but in the book, she's not in it alone: She owns her gallery with her best friend, Lulit.

Lulit serves as a confidant for Soléne throughout her relationship with Hayes too as she goes from encouraging the romp to doubting it to questioning how it's affecting their business, then simply wanting her best friend to be happy.

In the book, Hayes is also a bit more involved in Soléne's career. He accompanies her to several art shows and meets more of her friends in the arts circle and makes a pointed effort to learn more about the field. He also does not purchase every piece in her gallery the first time he shows up in the book, as he does in the film. Importantly, though, he does buy Unclose Me for her in both versions of the story.

In the film, the first real introduction to Soléne's gallery comes when Hayes arrives at it one day and purchases all of the pieces, using it as an excuse of sorts to spend more time with her. 

His dedication to learning more about Soléne's career and her passions is still evident onscreen, but the dynamic is different. Lulit's absence in the movie is certainly felt throughout, as instead of having someone to confide in, Soléne is largely left to her own devices throughout her relationship with Hayes. She does, though, have a close friend in Tracy (Annie Mumalo), who works for her at the gallery and who she does eventually confide in.

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Soléne and Hayes's fate

The book ends with, frankly, heartbreak. Soléne tells Hayes she didn't love him, but rather the idea of him, and they part ways one last time. He sends her texts over the following months - saying "I miss you" and "I love you" — but she never replies, and the book ends with just that: their ending. 

In the film, on the other hand, when they say goodbye to each other — and Hayes similarly arrives at Soléne's house after the fact for one last go at it — they make a promise to revisit each other in five years if they aren't otherwise spoken for. In a five-years-later epilogue, Soléne rocks a fresh new 'do, Hayes sports some facial hair and Izzy is living in Chicago in college — and there's hope for them again.

The film ends with Soléne seeing Hayes perform solo on The Graham Norton Show and he makes the ultimate romantic gesture as he says he's taking a break and heading to Los Angeles, as there's someone he wants to see. In the final scene, he arrives at her gallery — and who knows what comes next.

The Idea of You is now streaming on Prime Video.