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The Love Hypothesis

Play trailer 1:47 Poster for The Love Hypothesis R 2026 Romance Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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76% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a brilliant Ph.D. candidate focused on her future in academia. But when she realizes her best friend Ahn (Rachel Marsh) has fallen for her crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), Olive impulsively kisses intimidating professor Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) to prove she’s moved on. What begins as a desperate act of friendship spirals into a fake relationship with rules, boundaries, and a mutually beneficial agreement. When their arrangement begins to blur the lines between performance and reality, Olive is forced to test her most daunting hypothesis yet: that love might actually be worth the risk.

Critics Reviews

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Adrian Horton Guardian 2 hrs ago
2/5
Comes off as artlessly, almost lazily by the numbers, a faltering chain of tropes (enemies to lovers) and stock characters to a jaunty string score. Go to Full Review
Chris Azzopardi New York Times 2 hrs ago
As for the script, it needs no lab exam to know it fails at least one true test: to feel human. Go to Full Review
Marya E. Gates RogerEbert.com 5 hrs ago
3/4
It's comforting to know that at least some good rom-coms are making it through the gauntlet, with dedicated stars like [Lili] Reinhart and directors like [Claire] Scanlon leading the way. Go to Full Review
Phil Walsh Geek Vibes Nation 56 min ago
8/10
The Love Hypothesis, despite its clever title, understands that there is no science to l-o-v-e. Smart and even heartfelt, the conclusion will have audiences shouting eureka! Go to Full Review
Casey Chong Fortress of Solitude 5 hrs ago
3.5/5
[The Love Hypothesis] works wonders with Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman's winning chemistry and [Claire] Scanlon's mostly assured direction in bringing this romantic comedy the right sense of fun and familiarity. Go to Full Review
Sherin Nicole Geek Girl Riot / RIOTUS 6 hrs ago
I believed in the characters, but the dopamine rush from watching while a couple with chemistry falls in love never hits. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Anne-Sophie O @RT90373752 24 min ago As someone who had read the book and found it entertaining, I think this movie is utter trash. The writing is wierd and all the characters are awkward to the point of making me cringe every other minute. I will only recommend this movie to people that are ready to watch it and laugh at how bad it is. See more mehroze A @RT88659174 25 min ago Trust me, it's better than novel. Olive Character presented so much better in movie. They absolutely nailed it! See more Sarah W @sazzz 32 min ago I loved this book and have so been looking forward to this movie! It did not disappoint, great chemistry, setting, wardrobe-all of it! See more Jeff R @RT77228156 48 min ago This was such a beautifully written screenplay. Most book adaptations fall short but the writer took something good and improved upon the original. I have watched it twice!! See more Andy P @Rebel_Scum__ 50 min ago I really liked this movie! It’s a true romcom that leaves you wanting more, and I absolutely loved the chemistry between Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman. I would have loved to see Dr. Holden Rodrigues in the movie because I think he would have been an excellent addition, but I understand that some parts of the book have to be adapted for the screen. Tom Bateman did a fantastic job portraying Dr. Adam Carlsen. He is grumpy, difficult, and super handsome, but oh so soft for Olive. Lili Reinhart is simply amazing, phenomenal, and absolutely perfect as Olive. Of course, like everything, there are always things that could be improved, but this is truly a good, heartwarming romantic comedy that I loved with all my heart. Thank you for doing this, Lili and Tom! We simply loved it. ❤️ See more Ishani D @RT51977866 1 hr ago The movie adaptation absolutely downplayed the specifics. The main plot of the book revolves around how OLIVE (FMC) gets into everything on her own merit. The movie downplayed that by making the antagonist ‘offer’ her a place. Chapter 16 felt so scripted, 0 chemistry. The most important male supporting character for the MMC, his bestf, was cutoff as a character in the movie wherease he plays a significant role in the book. One of the main events of the book, the fight between the MMC and antagonist, when he knows about the harassment of FMC, is not at all shown in the way we expected. The whole series of events leading to that fight absolutely was disregarded by the director- which is THE MAIN PLOT of the book. And many others. If a book is loved as much as TLH is, ofcourse the readers expect better out of the movie. I was disappointed as i am a very big fan of the book, i read it like 6 times after its release. I dont think anyone can f*** a plot the way TLH movie team did. See more Read all reviews
The Love Hypothesis

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Movie Info

Synopsis Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a brilliant Ph.D. candidate focused on her future in academia. But when she realizes her best friend Ahn (Rachel Marsh) has fallen for her crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), Olive impulsively kisses intimidating professor Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) to prove she’s moved on. What begins as a desperate act of friendship spirals into a fake relationship with rules, boundaries, and a mutually beneficial agreement. When their arrangement begins to blur the lines between performance and reality, Olive is forced to test her most daunting hypothesis yet: that love might actually be worth the risk.
Director
Claire Scanlon
Producer
Elizabeth Cantillon, Jonathan Golfman
Screenwriter
Sarah Rothschild
Distributor
Prime Video
Production Co
Amazon MGM Studios
Rating
R
Genre
Romance, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 23, 2026
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