The Love Hypothesis commits what many book readers would consider a cardinal sin, but it’s a better film for it

This may sound like a paradox, but The Love Hypothesis movie is actually better than Ali Hazelwood’s book because it commits what some readers would consider a cardinal sin: it doesn’t stay true to the novel.

I spent the first 20 minutes of the film cringing through a slightly awkward voice-over that matched the book almost word for word and feared the rest of the film would do the same.

Having read the book, I knew I was in for a lot of second-hand embarrassment if that was the case.

For context, The Love Hypothesis started as a Star Wars fanfiction about Rey (Daisy Ridley) falling in love with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) set in a university.

It was later traditionally published, and in the process Rey became Olive and Kylo Ren became Dr Adam Calrsen, but much of the story remained the same, including the clichés and contrivances of Hazelwood’s early writings.

I feared seeing some of the most awkward moments translated from page to screen, like the scene where Olive sits in Adam’s lap in an auditorium full of Stanford students and professors. I’m not kidding, that’s a real scene.

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While the follows the same premise – PhD candidate Olive (Lili Reinhart) convinces intimidating professor Adam to fake date her so her best friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) will believe she’s seeing someone – it makes significant changes too.

And thank god for that.

Without giving too much away, the movie modifies several key moments from the book to make them more believable, and it’s better for it – though I’m sure some book fans will be divided over the changes.

For example, director Claire Scanlon and writers Hazelwood and Sarah Rothschild scrapped the cringe-worthy lap scene from the novel and replaced it with a toned-down version of that moment between Olive and Adam.

It gets the same point across and moves their relationship along without making me want to curl up into a ball and die, so that’s a big point in the movie’s favour.

They also changed several key moments in the finale, and I honestly don’t think I would have enjoyed the movie as much if they hadn’t.

Reinhart and Bateman sell all the changes beautifully as Olive and Adam, which also means I owe Bateman a massive apology.

When his casting was announced back in July 2025, I was very sceptical about his ability to portray Adam convincingly.

I saw the irony of casting Daisy Ridley’s husband to play the love interest in a movie based on a Reylo fanfiction, but I just didn’t think the handsome, clean-cut Brit had it in him to play surly, prickly Adam.

Now I’ve seen the movie, I can admit I was totally wrong.

Bateman is utter perfection as Adam, from his cold exterior and stunted social skills, to the tender heart hiding underneath.

Even his body language and speech patterns feel like they’ve been pulled straight off the pages of Hazelwood’s best-selling novel.

Reinhart is wonderful as Olive as well, despite my initial fears the Forbidden Fruits star was too perfect to sell Olive’s deep sense of self-doubt.

Having now seen the film, it’s clear she understands the character just as well as even the most avid book fans because she’s able to carry all the changes the film makes to Olive’s story.

All those changes makes the film feel much more grounded and realistic than the novel, but still has all the charm and tenderness of a classic ’90s flick.

There are still plenty of cliché moments that reminded me I was watching a 2026 Prime Video Original rather than a 1996 romantic comedy (don’t get me started on the sunscreen scene), but it feels more like Off Campus than Riverdale.

The one caveat I’d give is this: if you haven’t read the book, try to go into the movie remembering where this story came from.

The Love Hypothesis started as a Reylo fanfiction posted on the internet by a young woman in STEM who never dreamed it would become a traditionally published novel, let alone a major motion picture.

Parts of it are silly, parts of it are unbelievable, and parts of it are so painfully Millennial it will make you feel like you just stepped back in time to 2016. That’s what makes it so fun.

It probably won’t win an Academy Award, but it will make you feel like you’re 17 again, scrolling through Tumblr way past bedtime. And that’s exactly what I wanted from it.

Oh, and to everyone who did read the novel, I’m happy to report the one scene that didn’t change is the famous Chapter 16.

Book fans, you’re going to eat that scene up. Just like Adam.