The Older Woman May December Romances Must Really Be Working for Streamers

By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 12, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | Film | September 12, 2024 |

There was Netflix’s May December, about a relationship between an older woman, played by Julianne Moore, and her former student, played by Charles Melton. There was Prime Video’s The Idea of You, about a single mom (Anne Hathaway) having an affair with a musician (Nicholas Galitzine) her daughter’s age. More recently, there was also A Family Affair, about a widowed writer (Nicole Kidman) who has an affair with the much younger boss (Zac Efron) of her daughter.

Clearly, these films are resonating. Clearly, there is an audience of viewers who want to see older women have torrid, illicit affairs with younger men. The latest is Netflix’s Lonely Planet, which pairs reclusive writer Laura Dern with Liam Hemsworth, who develop a friendship that evolves into something else: Sex! And lots of it.

Here’s the trailer.

My only issue with these movies is that they always get the same terrible song stuck in my head — literally, one of the worst songs ever written. Other than that, Laura Dern, Julianne Moore, and Anne Hathaway have never looked better, and Nicole Kidman is a great actress!

Lonely Planet premieres on October 12th. It comes from director Susannah Grant, who wrote a lot of great movies — Ever After, Erin Brockovich, In Her Shoes — and also directed Catch and Release, a movie that somehow didn’t work despite the pairing of Timothy Olyphant and Jennifer Garner. I blame Kevin Smith.