The Love Hypothesis Movie: What to Know Before Prime Video
In short: The Love Hypothesis has been streaming on Prime Video since September 23, 2026. It's a faithful, light fake-dating rom-com starring Lili Reinhart as PhD student Olive Smith and Tom Bateman as professor Adam Carlsen. Critics are warm but not ecstatic, at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes and 59 on Metacritic, and nearly everyone credits the leads' chemistry. Watch it if you like the trope or the book. It won't change your mind if you don't.
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- Where: Prime Video, streaming since September 23, 2026. It reached No. 1 among Prime Video films worldwide in its first week.
- Runtime: 112 minutes.
- Director: Claire Scanlon, who made the Netflix rom-com Set It Up (2018).
- Writer: Sarah Rothschild, adapting Ali Hazelwood's 2021 novel.
- Made by: Amazon MGM Studios with MRC and Bisous Pictures. Filmed in Montreal in July and August 2025.
- Scores: 76% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (58 reviews), around 78% from audiences, and 59 on Metacritic.
What it's about
Olive Smith is a third-year biology PhD student. To convince her best friend Anh that she has moved on from a guy Anh likes, Olive kisses the first man she sees in a hallway. He turns out to be Dr. Adam Carlsen, the department's most feared professor. Instead of reporting her, he agrees to play her boyfriend, because a public relationship helps him too. The fake romance turns real, while a subplot about another professor's mistreatment of students gives Olive's career something genuine at stake.
Who's in it
- Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) as Olive Smith.
- Tom Bateman (Death on the Nile) as Dr. Adam Carlsen.
- Rachel Marsh as Anh Pham, Olive's best friend.
- Jaboukie Young-White as Malcolm Browne and Nicholas Duvernay as Jeremy Langley.
- Arty Froushan as Dr. Thomas Benton and Jeananne Goossen as Dr. Juliet Aslan.
What critics said
The reviews follow a clear pattern: the formula is familiar, and the two leads make it work. Collider called it "a near-perfect rom-com experiment," while Moviejawn's verdict was "cute, but leaves a lot to be desired." The most common criticisms are that it moves through its plot too quickly to build real longing, and that Adam's reasons for agreeing to the arrangement feel thin. The most common praise is for Reinhart and Bateman together, and for the friendship between Olive and Anh.
The book and the film
Hazelwood's novel began as Star Wars fan fiction about Rey and Kylo Ren before she reworked it into an original story, published in 2021. It became one of the biggest BookTok romances, which is why the film had a large audience waiting. The book stays close to Olive's thoughts, and a 112-minute film can't hold all of that, so the adaptation leans on dialogue and moves faster. The ending lands where readers expect.
Our verdict
Worth watching if fake dating is your favorite trope or you loved the book. It's a comfortable, well-cast, predictable two hours that takes the science setting more seriously than you might expect. Skip it if you want a rom-com that surprises you. Set It Up, from the same director, is the sharper film.
Want another recent rom-com? Sydney Sweeney's Anyone but You is the obvious next pick; see her movies and TV shows for where else to start.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to read the book first? No. The film tells the whole story on its own, though readers will spot scenes and subplots that have been shortened.
Is there a sequel? None has been announced, and no other Ali Hazelwood adaptations are confirmed.
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