Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman’s “The Love Hypothesis” is streaming on Prime Video, with a 76% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score from 34 reviews. Critics praised the leads’ chemistry and Reinhart’s comic timing, while others faulted its formulaic plot and rushed romance.
Adapted from Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling fake-dating novel, the 112-minute film follows Olive, a Stanford biology PhD student researching early detection of pancreatic cancer. After her best friend falls for a man Olive once liked, Olive kisses Adam, an intimidating professor; they pretend to date, partly because Adam wants to appear settled at Stanford.
Director Claire Scanlon said the film pays homage to moments from the novel, though some elements were changed or cut. The movie introduces Olive and Adam from the beginning, so reading the book first is not necessary.
