‘THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS’ – Review

“The Love Hypothesis,” starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman, heads to Prime on September 23.

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Synopsis: Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Ali Hazelwood, “The Love Hypothesis” follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a brilliant Ph.D. candidate focused on her future in academia. But when she realizes her best friend Ahn (Rachel Marsh) has fallen for her crush Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), Olive impulsively kisses intimidating professor Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman) to prove she’s moved on. What begins as a desperate act of friendship spirals into a fake relationship with rules, boundaries, and a mutually beneficial agreement. When their arrangement begins to blur the lines between performance and reality, Olive is forced to test her most daunting hypothesis yet: that love might actually be worth the risk.

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What was great

The leads have great chemistry, and the story has one of  the most popular tropes in romance/love stories. Think “Beauty and the Beast,”  or a reverse “Taming of the Shrew.” Belle had Beast trying to be better. Olive manages to get Adam to adjust his “Dr. Evil” persona, by thinking about his students by more than just their work.

Just as important as Olive and Tom’s relationship, is the friendship between Olive and Ahn. Their friendship is the reason Olive goes to such extremes. She tells Adam that Ahn is her family and will do anything for her, even pretend to fake a relationship so that Ahn can pursue the guy she’s interested in.

The side plot of a visiting professor and wanting to work with Olive on her research and then threatening her is very relatable to women who pursue profession in male dominated industries.

The supporting characters are very strong, especially Rachel Marsh who plays Ahn

What could be better

The timeline of the movie could be clearer. The movie jumps from Olive and Ahn first meeting as college roommates to being to grad school and living apart in the first 10 minutes. The set up would have been longer.

There’s only so much can be shown in a 2 hour movie versus the details and character development of a novel.

Who are the cast and crew

Starring Lili Reinhart, Tom Bateman, Rachel Marsh, Jaboukie Young-White, Nicholas Duvernay, and Arty Froushan

Directed by Claire Scanlon
Based on the novel by Ali Hazelwood
Screenplay by Sarah Rothschild

Why it’s a must see

The movie has the classic rom com tropes that make for a great story

Fans of the best selling novel get to see the characters come to life

Rating: 8/10

Watch “The Love Hypothesis” now on Prime

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