‘People hate happy women’ – how Anne Hathaway’s new film is igniting the age gap debate again

Age gap rhetoric is unavoidable – it shaped the two biggest films of 2023 and is the theme of Anne Hathaway’s new film ‘The Idea of You’ out this weekend. But what is it about an age gap that triggers such hatred?

'The Idea of You' starring Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway. Photo: Prime Video

Kate Demolder

In the first week of March 2024, the trailer for The Idea of You, a project that has been labelled a Harry Styles-fanfic, dropped and it caused a bit of a stir. The film is in cinemas from Friday May 3 and is certainly going to generate more debate after people get to see it in full.

In it, Anne Hathaway stars as Solene Marchand, a 40-year-old divorced mother who has a chance encounter with 24-year-old boyband lead Hayes Campbell, played by Nicholas Galitzine, at Coachella.