Based on the New York Times best-seller, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a Ph.D. candidate who impulsively kisses her department’s most intimidating professor, Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman). Their mutual need for a fake relationship turns into an experiment in chemistry that might actually solve for love.
Directed by: Claire Scanlon
Screenplay by: Sarah Rothschild
Based on: The Love Hypothesis, by Ali Hazelwood
Produced by: Elizabeth Cantillon
Starring: Tom Bateman, Lili Reinhart, Rachel Marsh, Arty Froushan
Amazon Prime’s newest rom-com is called The Love Hypothesis and centers around a Stanford graduate student finding love, confidence, and belonging. It’s based on a book that bills itself as a “steminist romance,” meaning it involves women in science. Hurray! As a woman in science and a lover of romantic tropes and enthusiastic consent – this is my kind of content. But why are we talking about it here on Fantha Tracks? Among all of these other labels, The Love Hypothesis is also fan fiction. Star Wars fan fiction no less. Reylo (Rey + Kylo Ren) romance fan fic specifically. Yes, please. Spoilers ahead!
In order to not get sued, the book’s author, Ali Hazelwood, had to change pretty much every detail of the characters and story. But the vibes are there and I think the filmmakers leaned back into the Star Wars connection a bit. There’s musical themes for when she’s in her element and when he’s ominously stomping around. “You’re such a rebel,” he tells her at one point, following it up with, “You know I didn’t set out to be a villain.”
The Love Hypothesis is a grumpy + sunshine romance, meaning one partner comes across as cold and unfeeling and dresses entirely in black. Sound like any Supreme Leaders we know? The other partner is cheerful and optimistic despite her loneliness and lack of family. Her openness smooths out his rough edges and his faith in her boosts her confidence. She steps into the role she is destined for. He comes back to humanity from the brink of tyranny. So, in this version, Ben Solo is saved. And there’s more than just the one kiss.
The heroine of The Love Hypothesis is Olive (played by Lili Reinhart), an orphan who ends up with three very good friends. I’m not going to assign Anh, Jeremy, and Malcolm to the roles of Finn, Poe, and BB-8 but certain parallels exist. The one female professor we meet encourages Olive but is also blunt about the struggles of succeeding as a woman in science. Leia vibes, for sure.
Our brooding love interest is Adam (because if you can’t name him after the character, why not name him after the actor?). He is actually played by Daisy Ridley’s real-life husband, Tom Bateman, and much was made of this Star Wars connection during the press tour. His backstory includes having his own overbearing advisor, someone who abused students and fostered their hatred. Adam has to slay that part of his past and while he doesn’t slice his old advisor in half, he does face this demon and acknowledge how it led him to the dark side. He also comes with a Hux-like “friend” and colleague who is a real villain. And yes, there’s a slightly awkward moment of him being shirtless.
The other romantic trope at play here is fake dating, which doesn’t come up in Star Wars but feels like where this fan fiction got its start. Imagine after the red throne room scene if Rey and Kylo pretended they’ve teamed up to help them each with their own goals. Rey can tell the Rebellion that she’s trying to save Ben Solo while learning the ways of the Force. Kylo can show his allegiance after killing Snoke by recruiting Rey. But oops, they fall in love! And maybe they meet somewhere in the middle, Ben Solo keeping Kylo Ren at bay and just a little bit of Dark Rey coming out when she needs to.
I can feel people across the fandom rolling their eyes, not everyone ships Reylo. I’m not even sure I do. Forgiving a biology professor for being mean to his students is one thing, loving someone who has murdered billions of people is quite another. No matter how special he makes you feel or how attractive he is when yearning after you, some actions cannot be overlooked. Bateman makes a strong case though, and also manages what Adam Driver did, to completely transform his face and body language when he’s alone with the object of his affection, especially after they kiss. And Olive prevails over her own self-doubt, her will always strong enough to overcome the challenges.
In case it’s not clear, I love Star Wars and I love The Love Hypothesis. They don’t need to go together, but it’s fun for me that they have a connection. The rom-com is a delight and I highly recommend it! And maybe it’s time for a rewatch of the sequel trilogy too, with a little extra attention to Reylo’s screen time.
As a former lab scientist, I’d be remiss if I didn’t add a quick science tangent here. I yelled at the characters who use a bathroom sink to “dispose of reagents and wash equipment.” Absolutely not! Did you know soda / Coke / pop is so acidic that dumping it down your sink technically breaks clean water laws? The idea that at Stanford (in California), this is accepted practice is wild! Two of the most pivotal scenes take place under this premise so I’ll just have to cringe and allow it. Another thing that made me twitch is the use of the periodic table in the title. Cute idea, but only half-applied. There are no elements represented by the letters L or E, so they insert “love” and “energy” respectively. But then O and V have their correct chemical information. So it’s Love Oxygen Vanadium Energy, which means nothing. Ok, science rant over. Back to swooning!