If you were disappointed by Netflix’s adaptation of People We Meet On Vacation, don’t fret. Prime Video’s The Love Hypothesis proves that book-to-movie rom-com adaptations aren’t totally doomed.
Adapted from Ali Hazelwood’s hit novel of the same name, The Love Hypothesis stars Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) as Olive Smith, a young grad student trying to complete her degree. She agrees to fake date the campus villain, Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman, Murder on the Orient Express) to encourage her friend to enter a relationship.
The movie is slightly more grounded than the book, making the events more plausible and believable. While it’s unlikely that an entire coffee shop would stop and stare at Olive and Adam on a fake date, the dialogue eases the scene into feeling more natural. The movie also makes a point to emphasize Olive’s friendship with Anh (Rachel Marsh, The Morning Show) and gives more realistic context to Olive’s decision to fake a relationship.
Lili Reinhart’s been having a great year, with a stellar performance in Forbidden Fruits earlier this year. She brings that same star power to The Love Hypothesis, making Olive Smith much more bearable than in the book. Tom Bateman also improves upon Adam Carlsen’s book counterpart, who was too cartoonishly grim at times. Not only do both leads help humanize their characters, they also have some solid chemistry that’s hard to find in rom-coms recently.
However, the most disappointing performance comes from Arty Froushan (Daredevil: Born Again) as Dr. Thomas Benton, Adam’s rival. Part of this comes from the writing of the film, which makes Tom less subtle in the movie. Froushan definitely has the range for a more intense version of this character, but the script insists on rushing through his scenes. The neglect of this plotline doesn’t harm the outcome of the movie, but it does raise the question of why the writers pulled their punches.
Overall, the movie is a big improvement from the book. With other heavy-hitters such as Sterling Point and Off Campus, Prime Video has proven to be the king of streaming romance. The Love Hypothesis’ newly announced sequel movie will just be another chance to prove it.
