BookTok-beloved Ali Hazelwood romance novel, The Love Hypothesis, takes on a whole new life with its Claire Scanlon-directed film adaptation now streaming on Prime Video. Originally written as Star Wars fanfiction pairing Daisy Ridley‘s Rey with Adam Driver‘s Kylo Ren, Hazelwood edited and published it as an original novel, which was then reworked by screenwriter Sarah Rothschild into a movie. Ridley’s husband, Tom Bateman, plays the intense male lead, while Lili Reinhart stars opposite him as our likable leading lady. Romance book-to-movie adaptations can be hit or miss, even more so when they start as fanfiction. Does The Love Hypothesis do enough to conclude it’s worth watching? Read on to find out!

The Gist: Olive Smith (Lili Reinhart) is a PhD student at Stanford University, where she dedicates herself to researching pancreatic cancer, a disease that took her mother’s life when she was a teenager. Left with no close blood relatives, Olive finds family and connection at school in Anh Pham (Rachel Marsh), whose easy extraversion perfectly balances Olive’s social awkwardness. In addition to Anh, Olive’s second-best friend and roommate, Malcolm (Jaboukie Young-White), helps light up her life outside the lab. But despite Olive’s brilliance in science, she struggles with anxiety around others, making it hard to get closer to her crush, Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay). Olive’s struggles only grow when Jeremy asks out and is rejected by Anh, who returns his affections but refuses to act on them out of loyalty to Olive.

Determined to help her best friend find the happiness she deserves, Olive claims that she’s seeing someone so she’s totally over Jeremy. When she recklessly kisses the nearest man to sell her lie, Olive ends up stumbling into an agreement to fake date Stanford’s resident “Dr. Evil,” Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman), who is widely disliked for his high standards, harsh delivery, and general lack of warmth both in and out of the lab.

Stanford labels Adam a flight risk and freezes his funds after the professor receives an enticing job offer from his friend, Dr. Tom Benton (Arty Froushan), at Harvard. Adam believes that a pretend romance with Olive will convince his department that he has put down enough roots locally to earn him the grant he needs to continue his groundbreaking research. With the parameters set for this mutually beneficial experiment, they swiftly hurtle down a path towards the conclusion they least expect… true love.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? The Love Hypothesis might recall other romantic comedies featuring the fake-dating trope, like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Proposal, and 10 Things I Hate About You.

Performance Worth Watching: Rachel Marsh is a perpetually charming scene-stealer as Anh Pham. Her natural, emotionally open performance helps her light up the screen whenever she appears. Here’s hoping we see more from her after this!

Sex And Skin: There’s one sex scene, and it does feature skin in the form of bare bums and breasts.

Our Take: Adapting a fanfiction-turned-romance book to film can be like playing a game of telephone. Things get lost in translation, and naturally, some people will be disappointed. As both a reader of Ali Hazelwood’s novel and a fan of (most of) the latest Star Wars trilogy, I can attest that The Love Hypothesis isn’t exactly like the book, but that’s okay. Sure, some moments are missing or altered, but overall I think fans of the book will be pleased with this genuine attempt at making the novel work onscreen.

I think that The Love Hypothesis is generally enjoyable to watch. The first two-thirds of the 112-minute runtime pull you in and get you invested in the characters. Lili Reinhart and Rachel Marsh are believable best friends as Olive and Anh, with good chemistry and a sweet bond that feels like the true heart of the movie. Comparatively, the romance between Olive and Tom Bateman’s Adam has its ups and downs. Adam is a somewhat tricky character to adapt onscreen in a way that still makes him feel likable and sympathetic, and I think that Bateman’s choice to play him as awkward (and potentially neurodivergent?) helps humanize his “Dr. Evil.”

Bateman and Reinhart have genuinely fun, buzzy banter and moments together that help you buy into their budding relationship. However, the last third of the movie feels rushed pacing-wise, making the culmination of their story feel a bit unearned or incomplete. I think this is partially due to Adam seeming much less fleshed out than Olive, whose backstory, motivations, and feelings are well-conveyed throughout the film. Meanwhile, we know little about the depths of Adam’s thoughts or feelings, and we’re left to wonder about his home life or if he has anyone close to him besides sleazy Tom Benton. All of these pros and cons culminate in an above-average romance movie that has room for improvement but still ultimately makes for a solid movie night watch.

Our Call: The Love Hypothesis might not be a romance for the ages, but it is a charmingly cheesy tale complete with classic tropes like found family and fake dating, resulting in a decently entertaining and pleasant final product. STREAM IT.

Maddy Casale is a Chicago-based writer and comedian who covers everything from animated series to Hallmark movies. Follow her on Duolingo @MCasale.