What started as a Star Wars fanfiction published on Archive of Our Own (AO3) has now become the latest hot topic of conversation in entertainment. Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis just got its major studio film adaptation, which hit streaming platforms on Sept. 23. Directed by Claire Scanlon, The Love Hypothesis (2026) has taken the internet by storm, receiving mixed reviews from rom-com lovers and book readers alike.
FanFic Origins
Originally published in 2018 on AO3 as Head Over Feet, the fanfiction featured Star Wars sequel characters Rey and Kylo Ren. Then, in 2021, the characters were renamed, all notable Star Wars references were cut, and The Love Hypothesis was born. The romance novel stole the hearts of many and went viral on BookTok, leading to its almost instant New York Times bestseller status. Now, in 2026, the book has landed a film deal with Amazon Prime Video.
Somewhere along the way, the performance becomes reality, and Adam and Olive must confront their feelings for each other amidst the minefield that is Stanford’s biology department.
The story follows Olive Smith, a Ph.D. candidate, and Dr. Adam Carlsen, a grumpy professor, who find themselves in the middle of a classic fake-dating trope. In order to both convince Olive’s best friend, Anh, that she’s no longer crushing on their classmate and to get Adam’s boss to renew his grant funding, the pair must prove to their peers and colleagues that they’re madly in love.
Book to Movie Adapations
I want to preface this review by reassuring you that I’m not one of those pretentious book readers who absolutely loathe on-screen adaptations. In fact, one of my favorite movies of all time, Beautiful Creatures (2013), is also a not-very-book-accurate adaptation.
All of this is to say that I’m no stranger to the book-to-screen pipeline, and I know filmmakers can never please everyone. “You can only do so much when it’s a book-to-movie adaptation,” Lili Reinhart, the actress who plays Olive, admitted. “You can’t squeeze everything in there.”
While I do agree with the sentiment, I still feel like the production of The Love Hypothesis could have done a little better to protect the fan-favorite moments.
For me, there are three plot changes that I just can’t get past: the absence of Holden’s character, who was supposed to be Adam’s best friend; there being no mention of Adam yearning for Olive since their first meeting in the lab bathroom years prior; and the lack of confrontation between Olive and Tom post-conference.
Don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoyed watching this film. I think the actors have great chemistry. Do I think they’re exactly who I pictured when I read the book for the first time? Well, no, but it’s hard to picture Adam being played by anyone other than Adam Driver since his spitting image is practically plastered on the book cover.
Benton as Dr. Adam Carlsen
Honestly, though, given his relation to the story, Benton brought Adam to life in such a pathetically endearing way. I mean, Letterboxd user @folklore said it best: “imagine starring in a film that was based off of fanfiction about your wife and the antagonist is named after you.”
Given the immense pressure one must be under when adapting a book with as large a fanbase as The Love Hypothesis, I think both leads gave an amazing performance, and I’ll definitely be rewatching.
However lenient my feelings toward the film may be, that sentiment doesn’t seem to be shared by the public. The film has garnered a very mediocre 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and only 3.4 stars on Letterboxd. With the book being a viral phenomenon and having such an adoring fanbase, I expected the film to be better-received, but I guess it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Audiences seem pleased with the rom-com resurgence, but, like me, feel the latter half of the story was rushed and therefore hard to build a connection with. In retrospect, I think the project would’ve been better as a TV series rather than a film, similar to Amazon’s other popular book adaptations like Off Campus and The Summer I Turned Pretty.
While this film may not be a Letterboxd top four moment, it’s still a fun watch, especially in this rom-com drought. Seeing a book I’ve loved for so long come to life on my laptop screen is always exciting, even if the story wasn’t exactly what I’d envisioned.
If you take it for what it is, which is a perfectly cheesy, easy-to-watch romantic comedy, you’ll have no qualms with the story. Book readers, however, may be left lacking substantial evidence to prove The Love Hypothesis.
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