Netflix’s ‘A Household Affair’ joins the combat towards snobbery and sexism in direction of feminine rom-com leads

After starring in ’90s and ’00s rom-coms equivalent to Flirting and Bewitched, Nicole Kidman’s newest film, Netflix’s A Household Affair, locations her firmly again within the style. The Hollywood star performs Brooke, who dabbles in a steamy romantic dalliance with youthful man/film star Chris (Kidman’s The Paperboy co-star Zac Efron), a lot to the horror of her twenty-something daughter Zara (Joey King), who works as his under-appreciated assistant.

At 57, Kidman is the newest over-40, Oscar-winning actor to utterly smash the feminine rom-com lead function. Directed by Richard Lagravenese, A Household Affair joins the ranks of movies like Mamma Mia!, How Stella Obtained Her Groove Again, and most just lately, The Concept of You, combating towards the snobbery and sexism Hollywood studios and audiences have lengthy bestowed upon rom-coms themselves and who “should” lead them. These films champion the enjoyment of girls’s sexual need, autonomy, and self discovery at any age.

Folks need to see ladies over 40 in rom-coms. And actors need to make these films. 

Comparisons between Kidman’s function in A Household Affair and 41-year-old Anne Hathaway’s flip in fan fiction novel turned film The Concept Of You earlier this yr are unavoidable. The movie follows the story of a 40-something divorcée who begins a love affair with a 20-something member of the largest boy band on the earth (performed by 29-year-old Nicholas Galitzine).

“It was supposed to be a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the point that society traditionally writes women off,” The Concept of You writer Robinne Lee advised Vogue in 2020. Hathaway confronted backlash for her casting, although, with many criticising her selection of style, and leaning on Hathway being an Oscar-winner for 2012’s Les Miserables.

One particular person wrote on X (beforehand Twitter), “The woman that did Les Mis is now doing a harry styles fan fiction… a step down for Anne Hathaway.” One other wrote, “something died in me when i saw the Academy Award Winner Anne Hathaway’ name card.”

The factor is, Hathaway’s executed many romance, comedy, and rom-com films over her profession: Love and Different Medicine, The Intern, Valentine’s Day, Bride Wars, The Satan Wears Prada, and so forth. Hathway herself hit again at these attitudes, talking at SXSW about not eager to be “pigeonholed”. “I don’t want to be placed in a box of what type of films I have to be making because of my age, gender and because I won an Oscar. I want to have fun, dammit! It speaks to me,” Hathaway reportedly said. Kidman also revealed her main motivation for taking the role in A Family Affair was to “have enjoyable” after the depth of engaged on Lulu Wang’s Prime Video collection, Expats, per an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. 

The view {that a} extra mature actress shouldn’t be fronting rom-coms as a result of they’re too skilled or not proper for a narrative of self discovery simply stinks of misogyny. Why cannot ladies of a sure age simply have enjoyable? This disdain for middle-aged romantic heroines additionally seems like an try to restrict what features of the feminine expertise we get to see on display.

What’s extra, individuals need to see these movies. On launch, A Household Affair was the most-watched film of the week on Netflix, beating Jessica Alba’s Set off Warning and Glen Powell’s Hit Man. It is at present sitting at 26.8 million views. In the meantime, The Concept of You‘s record-breaking launch on Prime Video soaked up the cultural zeitgeist and hit almost 50 million viewers in two weeks, turning into Amazon MGM’s primary rom-com.

Reclaiming the rom-com area

Girls over 40, 50, and 60 in Hollywood are reclaiming the rom-com area, and never simply in supporting roles as finest associates or facet half moms; they’re the primary occasion, discovering love and dealing issues out. In A Household Affair, we see Brooke navigating feeling “irrelevant” in her job as a screenwriter, the tough waters of motherhood, her determination to have informal intercourse with Chris, and the liberation she feels from it, in addition to the apprehension at taking dangers after 50. We see her emotionally unpack her earlier marriage, asking her mother-in-law (a genius casting in Kathy Bates) if it’s OK to have an journey whereas being a mother, and her resentment at feeling like she has to decide on between the 2. 

In the end, seeing ladies in these age teams entrance rom-coms remind us that sexual need and pleasure doesn’t expire as we age.

Alongside Hathaway and Kidman, now we have Brooke Shields, 59, fronting Netflix’s latest launch Mom of the Bride as Lana. Because the title suggests, this rom-com doesn’t centre round Lana’s daughter’s wedding ceremony day and romantic selections, however her personal – previous and current. There’s even a dalliance with a youthful man, performed by Chad Michael Murray, who’s 42. 

In the end, seeing ladies in these age teams entrance rom-coms remind us that sexual need and pleasure doesn’t expire as we age. And that ought to be celebrated, giving a number of generations the want fulfilment and illustration that they deserve.

It’s not like there isn’t a thirst for rom-com tales representing all ages. The deeply in style Mamma Mia!, starring a 59-year-old Meryl Streep, grossed $694 million worldwide on a $52 million finances, to not point out the sequel. Seasoned rom-commer J-Lo launched her newest rom-com Marry Me at 52, and Julia Roberts was 54 in Ticket to Paradise. Angela Bassett performed a 40-something courting a 20-something in 1998’s How Stella Obtained Her Groove Again at 40 years outdated. Emma Thompson completely summed up many conundrums in terms of an older girl’s sexuality in Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, and Netflix’s Grace and Frankie starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda – who are actually aged 84 and 86 respectively – is a masterclass in showcasing why it’s by no means too late in life for love or profession bests, and on the flipside how laborious it’s to age as a lady.

Mashable Prime Tales

And the pattern doesn’t cease there. Reese Witherspoon, aged 48, may also be starring in 2025 rom-com You’re Cordially Invited alongside Will Ferrell. In the case of the actress’ place within the rom-com sphere, Witherspoon has been very vocal about the truth that she is right here to remain. It’s additionally maybe no coincidence, then, that her manufacturing firm, Hey Sunshine, was based with the very mission of telling ladies’s tales.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop making romantic comedies,” she advised Vainness Honest in an interview to advertise the discharge of her 2023 rom-com Your Place Or Mine, which she starred in alongside Ashton Kutcher.

“They are very important to me. It’s my favourite genre because it makes people feel good,” she defined. “This one is even more special because we have different voices and different perspectives telling the story. Our movie is about a single mom in her 40s getting second chances and finding love. You often don’t see this in a romantic comedy.

As Witherspoon says, it’s not necessarily just about older women merely leading romantic comedies – although there’s plenty of snobbery and sexism around that to be sure – it’s about them getting to tell honest stories about being that age, instead of the constant overfocus on building romances and careers in your 20s. 

This shift in the portrayal of women over 40 in film is a hit back against stereotypes, the limits that come with being “pigeonholed” into sure roles and the patriarchal norms inside and out of doors of Hollywood. 

Harmless refers to TikToker Therese’s theories of how misogyny and slavery intersect to explain the impression a cultural shift like this may have, by way of the affect illustration on display can impression how we expect and due to this fact societal adjustments which are demanded and subsequently pushed via by activists, legal professionals and different changemakers. 

In a video, Therese asks, “Why do you assume conservative males are so scared, particularly of Hollywood and the music business? As a result of they know what super affect these industries have over the tradition. And adjustments to the tradition are predecessors to adjustments within the legislation.” 

Hollywood remains to be obsessive about age. It ought to concentrate on enjoyable.

Girls can have moments or chapters of self discovery any time, a number of instances over their lives — didn’t Elizabeth Gilbert educate us this with Eat Pray Love? Girls over 40 (and older) fronting a rom-com assist to normalise the concept beginning a brand new thrilling chapter in your life, or discovering a brand new a part of your self, can occur at any time. And Hollywood has dragged its toes on this illustration.

“Scholars have written at length about Hollywood’s obsession with youth, and the double standards about ageing on screen for men and women. So it’s great to see women over 40 being offered more diverse roles,” rom-com professional and tutorial at MetFilm College Dr. Alice Guilluy tells Mashable. She provides that the usage of “ageing heroines” challenges the “happily ever after” idea that permeates rom-coms and suggests that each one of life’s issues are solved indefinitely by romance in your 20s.

“[Happily ever after] doesn’t leave space for the mess of real-life romance: arguments, routine… and breakups,” she explains. “Having middle-aged characters who have been through the ‘happily ever after’ once before and back again is liberating in this respect, as it shakes the conventions of the genre.”

Moreover, why shouldn’t our rom-coms replicate the fact of day by day trendy life and shifts in what we wish out of life? Individuals are getting married later in life – the common age at first marriage is now 31, in contrast with a twentieth century low of 23 in 1970 — ladies are opting to remain single for longer and have households later in life, additionally. It’s so vital that our on-screen tales replicate, and champion, these information.

Above all, the widespread thread between Hathaway, Kidman, and Witherspoon’s feedback on main rom-coms at any age is that they wish to prioritise having enjoyable, a precedence that isn’t typically normalised for ladies of a sure age.

“Fun, joy and play are incredible tools for empowerment and change,” she says. “There are numerous studies about how the human brain learns, adapts, and innovates more effectively when in a state of openness through play. So when female actors are having fun opting for rom-coms, not only is that a great place for them as individuals to explore who they are and what the world has to offer them, but that same energy is contagious through the art.” 

Seeing ladies of all ages entrance rom-coms like A Household Affair and The Concept of You is the proper rejection of patriarchal stereotypes on display.

“Witnessing ladies, particularly older ladies, embrace life with arms vast open is affirming to viewers that they’ll stay a life outdoors of the societal bounds which have been positioned on us,” says Harmless.

A Household Affair is now streaming on Netflix.