Amazon Prime has been killing it in the romance genre this year. We weren’t ready for Off Campus to take the world by storm, and then Sterling Point was beloved by critics and audiences. And those are just two examples. Now, I fear we aren’t ready again for the next romance the streamer has up its sleeve, because early reactions to The Love Hypothesis are fantastic, and I’m both jealous and elated for the book fans who have seen the movie.
I was already stoked about this book-to-screen adaptation on the 2026 movie schedule, thanks to the trailer for The Love Hypothesis that dropped, which showed off Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman as Olive and Adam. You give me fake dating, a story inspired by an Ali Hazelwood book and women in S.T.E.M., and I’m there. However, the reactions, like Maggie Lovitt’s, have me so excited that I want to watch this movie the second it’s available:
I saw [The Love Hypothesis] a few weeks ago, and I absolutely LOVED it! As someone who read the fic when it was updating and then the book as an ARC, I can safely say this is a truly perfect adaptation of the story! Tom Bateman and Lili Reinhart have such compelling screen presence, and their chemistry is delicious. I love how beautifully awkward Adam and Olive are; it brought me so much joy to watch. 😍
Honestly, I can’t think of higher praise. The Love Hypothesis was actually born out of fanfic about Rey and Kylo Ren (ironically and iconically, the actor playing Adam in this movie is Daisy Ridley’s actual husband), and then Ali Hazelwood’s story became a bestselling book about a third-year PhD student named Olive winding up in a fake relationship with a professor named Adam Carlsen. So, to see someone who has been around for all of that write that the movie lives up to its source material is very exciting.
The praise does not end there, though. Amanda on X also screened the film early and wrote that she loved every second of it:
ROMCOMS ARE SO BACK. y’all seriously this movie is phenomenal and had me laughing and crying and screaming and i loved every minute of it🥹 book lovers you’ll definitely be pleased!! i’m so ready for the love hypothesis to get the hype it deserves🙂↕️🩵
In a year where we’ve already gotten great rom-coms like People We Meet on Vacation and Voicemails for Isabelle, it really feels like we’re being spoiled. And it’s going to continue with this Ali Hazelwood adaptation. To prove that point, Gissane Sophia wrote:
[The Love Hypothesis] is everything you want a true rom-com to be—hilarious, genuinely charming, tender, and [hot]. Everything about it works gorgeously. Best of all, Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman are the perfect Olive and Adam. Their chemistry is electric, and the longing is—❤️🔥
I cannot stress enough how happy I am to hear that this movie is funny, tender and, yes, hot. Hazelwood’s books don’t back away from the spice, and I didn’t want the movie to shy away from it. To that point, Esther Lafourcade wrote on Instagram:
On absolute cloud nine, this was EVERYTHING AND MORE!! Chemistry, yearning, down bad, humour, steamy absolute perfection NO NOTES!! THIS is how you adapt a romance book!
Now, steph made a very big claim after seeing the movie. It’s words like this that have me convinced that The Love Hypothesis is a must-watch for us romance girlies who spend our time reading books like the ones Ali Hazelwood writes:
we did not expect this to happen😭😭😭 i happily report, IT’S AS GOOD AS THE BOOK—DARE I SAY BETTER?!!
Well, “better than the book” is a statement that carries a whole lot of weight. For context, The Love Hypothesis has been a bestseller for years, and it’s the book that made Ali Hazelwood one of the romance genre's most popular authors. Since writing it, she’s published many other romance novels – most of them set in the S.T.E.M. world – and they’re beloved. So, there is a lot of anticipation for this adaptation.
And it sounds like it delivers. So, you best believe I’ll be using my Amazon Prime subscription to stream The Love Hypothesis on September 23, and you should too...for science (and romance).
