Now, I’m such a sucker for not only rom-com movies, but also for rom-com novels. Sometimes, I like to go for a cute friends-to-lovers, or maybe a sweet high school soulmates kind of story. However, BookTok, or the side of TikTok where creators talk about their favorite novels, has one book on its mind: The Love Hypothesis. Thousands of creators would always either recommend it or gush about the dynamic between the lead characters. In October 2022, Amazon Prime announced it would be creating a book-to-screen adaptation of the novel. Audiences, myself included, were very excited to see how this movie would turn out, and I’m happy to report that it was just the cure I needed.
The story revolves around a brilliant third-year Ph.D. student named Olive Smith, played by Lili Reinhart, known for her role in Riverdale, who is researching pancreatic cancer. She enters into a fake-dating arrangement with a harsh Stanford professor named Dr. Adam Carlsen, played by Tom Bateman. This arrangement is made so Olive can convince her best friend, Anh (played by Rachel Marsh), that she is over her ex so that Anh can continue pursuing her feelings for him. Throughout the arrangement, Olive and Adam begin to learn more about each other and maybe catch the love bug. That’s all I will say about the story without spoilers, but I will say again, this movie did not disappoint. Especially considering the amount of not-so-good book-to-screen adaptations we’ve been getting the past two years, this felt like a breath of fresh air.
I want to start with the positive aspects I really liked about this movie. Reinhart’s performance as Olive Smith was so incredible. Obviously, from her time in Riverdale, she is a fantastic actress; however, I was more interested in seeing how she would take on this role. Especially considering the movie’s genre is a big one to step into. Besides that, Reinhart was the perfect choice for this role; she was genuine and authentic, and even during the emotional scenes, I was crying with her. Again, for a hard genre to tackle, Reinhart was perfect. Another aspect I really enjoyed was how closely it related to the novel. As I said before, not many book-to-screen adaptations are the best. So, I did go into this movie with low expectations at first, because other adaptations had been disappointing for me. Thankfully, this movie didn’t take that route and instead tried to stay as close to the novel as possible. Reinhart actually stated in an interview with Extra that when she was offered this role, she had a say in some aspects of the script because she was thinking about how fans would react, which I really appreciated. Finally, the last thing I liked was the ensemble, or more so the supporting characters. Olive Smith’s best friends in the movie, Malcolm (played by Jaboukie Young-White) and Anh, were probably my second favorite characters. I really loved the female friendship that they showed with Anh and Olive. They were both supportive of each other’s decisions, even if some of them did seem irrational, like a fake-dating arrangement, but they still had each other’s backs. Malcolm was a fun character not just because of his humor, but also because he felt authentic. At times, you could connect with Malcolm, not just as a character, but as a person. To top it off, Anh and Malcolm’s comedic timing was perfect; they really helped light up a scene.
I now want to discuss a few things about the movie that kind of held it back or felt like negatives to me. Now, this is no hate to Bateman, but I didn’t really enjoy his performance as much. It didn’t feel as though he was a stern, tough professor; he felt a bit awkward at times. Now, you may be thinking, “Well, Dr. Carlsen isn’t really much of a people person, he’s kind of meant to be awkward.” While that may be true because I have read the book, there were just some moments in the film when there was either tension or an emotional scene and he just felt like a statue. He didn’t really give the vibe of someone who would send chills down your spine if you walked past, just a dude who’s broody and tall. Again, this is no hate to Bateman, as he generally did good with what he was given. I just felt as though at times he was just there in a scene and I would go, “Oh, he’s there too. Okay.”
Another thing I kind of didn’t really like was how rushed the story was. While I understand, again, that you cannot include everything in the movie, I believe there were some moments that felt rushed or were introduced, but never really mentioned again. Like, for example, Malcolm. All we really knew about him was that he was Olive’s friend and roommate for the semester, but I never really got to understand him. Again, I know the story is mainly about Olive; however, in the novel (spoilers), Malcolm knows about the fake-dating arrangement and supports it. Yet, in the movie, they make it seem as though he is against it and doesn’t want that for Olive because Carlsen is his professor and is strict. Those may have just been things I didn’t really enjoy because I can be nitpicky, but they didn’t ruin the experience of watching the movie.
Overall, this book-to-screen adaptation was definitely a breath of fresh air from the not-so-good ones. I definitely recommend seeing this with either a friend or even having a movie night with a group. For me, this film is getting a 3.5-star rating on Letterboxd.