‘The Love Hypothesis’ Trusts The Formula

Charming and cheesy, The Love Hypothesis is a fun rom-com that delivers more than expected, even in its haste.

Directed by Claire Scanlon, the film follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a PhD student who ends up fake-dating notoriously no-nonsense professor Adam (Tom Bateman), or as his students call him, ‘Dr. Evil’, for their own mutually beneficial reasons.

Olive wants to convince her best friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) that she’s moved on from a crush, while Adam needs to convince the university board that he’s got enough personal ties to get his research grant renewed. Thus begins their experiment, and a film chock-full of cliches done well enough.

For those unfamiliar, the film is adapted from Ali Hazelwood’s New York Times bestseller, which of course began as Star Wars, or more specifically Kylo Ren and Rey or Reylo, fanfiction.

Yup, another addition to the growing pantheon of fanfic-turned-media adaptations.

And honestly, the result’s not bad.

Sure, the brooding professor and awkward sunshine pairing is hardly new, but aside from familiar rom-com symptoms, the film brings enough charm and silliness to keep things entertaining.

Most notably, it centres Olive and Anh’s friendship in a way that feels genuinely refreshing, and without immediately failing the Bechdel test.

It also helps that The Love Hypothesis occasionally goes somewhere a little more interesting than expected, clumsily bringing the difficulties of being a woman in science into focus.

The academia of it all may not exactly hold up to scrutiny, but it at least gives the film something more to chew on beyond its standard tropes.

Overall, it’s most definitely the cast that most definitely sells the movie, lending enough depth to the material and keeping the characters from becoming total caricatures.

Reinhart and Bateman shine throughout, their chemistry making the not-so-slow burn dynamic very easy to sink into, even if you never quite buy into the real depth of their connection.

Bateman is clearly having a ball with Adam’s broodingly awkward deadpan schtick, while lending a softer vulnerability when facing Olive. And Reinhart brings a genuine warmth, silliness  and vulnerability of her own.

The film is also surprisingly at its best when it leans into the comedy, particularly the awkwardness of Adam and Olive’s fake relationship, delivering some hilarious moments.

Don’t get me wrong, The Love Hypothesis is straight-woman fantasy in its purest form. There’s a solid number of cringey moments accompanied by painfully out-of-place song choices and dialogue that makes you pause.

The biggest issue of the film is probably its pacing. There’s a feeling some of the character development and bigger moments seem to happen off screen or not at all, leaving the romance feeling rushed and the film overall incomplete.

Still, The Love Hypothesis is funny, cute and a ridiculously easy to watch that knows exactly what it is.

It’s not breaking any new ground but in comparison to the many hetero YA romance adaptations being churned out amid a sea of Hallmark-esque slop, it just about stands out as a surprisingly decent and fun rom-com.

And yes, knowing its origins definitely gives it the incredibly funny added bonus of sitting and working out the corresponding Star Wars lore.

★★★

The Love Hypothesis is available to stream on Prime Video now.