Solène Marchand: The Idea of You character explained

Solène Marchand, played by Anne Hathaway, is one of the lead characters of The Idea of You. She is a single mother who falls for Hayes Campbell of August Moon.

Solène is the mother of Izzy, who used to be a huge August Moon fan. She runs an art gallery and is turning 40.

At the beginning of the film, Solène is looking forward to going camping solo, processing her last 20 years, and finding herself, while her daughter is going to Coachella with her friends, her ex-husband, Daniel, and his partner, Eva.

Solène’s plans are derailed when Daniel backs out at the last minute, and she is forced to take the kids to Coachella. However, unexpectedly, Solène finds love there, in the form of Hayes Campbell.

Solène’s past

In college, Solène started as a premed, but then she took an art history class for the credits and fell in love with it.

In the film, after being impressed by Solène, Hayes tracks her down. Intending to get to know her better, he visits her gallery and persuades her to tell her about art and herself.

At one point, Hayes asks what’s worse that can happen if one opens up to someone. This leads Solène to tell Hayes about how she met Daniel, fell in love with him, got pregnant, and how it all fell apart.

Solène and Daniel were very young when they had Izzy. Solène was just out of college back then.

Solène Marchand: The Idea of You character explained 1
Solène shares her story with Hayes

Solène and Daniel put their heads down and worked hard. Everything was working out, but there was a drift.

One night, they were out for dinner with Daniel’s work friends. That night, Solène learned that Daniel was cheating on her with his colleague, Eva.

Solène was very nice about it. She offered to forget about it for the good of their family, and she regrets doing that because Daniel just didn’t want to move past it; he was in love with Eva, so he quietly left.

Priorities for Solène

Dating Hayes is a chance that Solène bravely takes, hoping that this will remain a secret like they intend to keep, but it doesn’t.

Hayes and Solène connect, but they break up twice in the film before ending up together. First, Solène leaves Hayes after learning that he has seduced other girls the way he has seduced her.

When Solène realizes that her daughter is fine with her dating Hayes, she gives Hayes another chance. Solène faces a world that keeps criticizing her for dating a boy lot younger than her.

Once again, Solène prioritizes Izzy’s comfort. After learning that Izzy is being bullied at school, Solène breaks up with Hayes again.

Hayes is reluctant and proposes to revisit this five years later, when Izzy is out of college and he is a less popular celebrity.

Even though Solène asks him to grab the happiness if he gets it, because five years are going to be too long, Hayes returns to meet her as he had proposed.


Also Read: The Idea of You summary and ending explained

Rahul Shinde
Rahul Shinde
Rahul is an editor on The Envoy Web who is working from Mumbai. You will find him obsessing over the genres of horror, thriller, sitcoms, and musicals—a weird combination right there. It's either something spooky or a comfort watch.

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