‘The Love Hypothesis’ Review – A Smart Rom-Com With Great Chemistry

“…the chemistry of belonging.” — Olive Smith, The Love Hypothesis. 

Love is not a battlefield; it’s a laboratory. Sparks fly as beakers swirl and romance is under the microscope. The Love Hypothesis blends the usual rom-com flair, but instead of an urban meet-cute, it unfolds on Stanford’s campus. Chemistry is in the air, and plenty of variables prove that romance is more than a science. The film has inherent charm and embraces all the sappy, sweet tropes but does so with genuine earnestness. It reminds us that love is not some element on the periodic table but something much more complicated and much more intimate.

This isn’t the first time a work of fan fiction has become a bestseller and later a film. It is rarer (much like the element astatine) for fan fiction that becomes both a book and a film to be still quite good. However, that is the case with The Love Hypothesis. What began as Star Wars fan fiction, the book by Ali Hazelwood on which the film is based tells the story of Olive Smith (Lili Reinhart), a Stanford Ph. D. candidate who, after realizing her best friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) has fallen for her crush, impulsively kisses the faculty’s most feared professor, Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman), to prove that she has moved on from her crush. 

Realizing she’s unintentionally created a problem for herself, she proposes that they start a fake relationship. He agrees to the charade, for his own reasons, which intersect with Olive’s plan. Scientists first and a fake couple second. Olive and Adam hammer out the parameters of their relationship, setting rules and boundaries and locking in a mutually beneficial agreement. But as they become more absorbed in the experiment, the lines blur. Olive soon faces the reality of her hypothesis: love might be worth the risk.

Something rather ingenious about a story’s origins that begin in a galaxy far, far away… The Reylo fan-force (pun intended) has been in full swing since The Last Jedi and reached stratospheric levels in corners of the internet after The Rise of Skywalker. For many, Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo were intergalactic ‘shipping’ that spawned its own following and subsequent fan fiction, most notably the story that became the basis for this film. Credit it to the character intrigue, or merely the internet’s love for shipping couples, particularly those on opposite sides. In Star Wars, the light and dark side. In The Love Hypothesis, on opposite sides of academia. Whatever the reason, it works here. 

The film does not take itself too seriously on the romantic front. The story lets the chemistry between Bateman and Reinhart do the work, and the sparks fly. However, it also takes a more serious look at the daunting challenges women face in both academia and science. The story fleshes out the characters who act in accordance with their own goals and ambitions, rather than always following the forced logic of a rom-com.

The script, like the story, lets the situation unfold as an experiment. The script is sharp. It borrows clever turns of phrase and scientific jargon that add to the humor and the charming absurdity of the situation. This can be a difficult genre, but The Love Hypothesis finds the sweet spot between being stomach-churning sweet and romance overload. Much of that resolve stems from the casting of Reinhart and Bateman. The two treat the material with a mature tone you might find in a film other than a rom-com. It also fosters a genuine rapport that blossoms naturally over the course of the film. 

Clocking in at over ninety minutes, the film unfolds with delicate precision. As with any good experiment, it takes its time rather than rushing to its conclusion. The machinations around fake dating and keeping up appearances add to the film’s humor, as well as the gradual development of real love, which is, of course, why many buy tickets for these kinds of films. 

Further, in the best rom-coms, the leads are surrounded by a strong supporting cast that enhances rather than distracts from the plot. Olive’s friends and fellow doctorate candidates themselves add a nice dash of reality. There is no stock best friend; the dynamic between Anh and Olive comes off as support and mutual respect. While the film is unquestionably a rom-com by the nature of its premise, the characters and, by extension, the situations that develop are grounded. Whereas sometimes, in these films, characters act as though they’re in a rom-com, here they act measured and, dare I say, realistic in a way that is refreshing and, as always, endearing. 

Ultimately, this film takes us through the channels of trying to put love under the microscope. Still, anyone who has ever felt the twinge of attraction knows full well that love cannot be quantified, factored, or presented as a keynote at a research conference. All that is to say, 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! 

What began as clever fan fiction becomes a unique experiment in laughs, growth, and love.

The Love Hypothesis is now available to stream on Prime Video.

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