The Love Hypothesis: What to Know Ahead of the 'Reylo' Fanfiction Adaptation
From Lessons In Chemistry, to Off Campus, to It Ends With Us, it feels like all our BookTok faves are being adapted into movies and TV shows. Next up? The Love Hypothesis.
The New York Times bestseller, which was written by Ali Hazelwood, was first published in 2021. The Love Hypothesis tells the story of Olive Smith, a Stanford University PhD student who pretends to date dishy professor Adam Carlsen. Since its release, it has sold more than 1 million copies, while on TikTok, there are 69,800 videos that have been made with #thelovehypothesis hashtag.
Since being announced in 2022, the Amazon MGM movie has been ticking on at a leisurely pace. Claire Scanlon is the director, Sarah Rothschild is the screenwriter, and both Lili Reinhart and Elizabeth Cantillon serve as producers.
As hype around the film reaches fever pitch, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about The Love Hypothesis — including its very surprising origin.
What Is The Love Hypothesis About?
The Love Hypothesis is anchored by two tropes: fake relationship and enemies to lovers. To prove a point to best friend Anh Pham, Olive impulsively kisses a stranger — who turns out to be notoriously hard-faced professor Adam. From there, the pair pretend to be in a relationship, with both having a lot to gain from the faux romance.
While Olive wants to convince Anh that her dating life isn’t a total flop, Adam’s motivation is to convince Stanford’s science department (who froze his research funds) that he isn’t planning on leaving. As one would expect, the pair end up catching feelings for each other in the process — but one thing about The Love Hypothesis is that it has some pretty surprising layers.
Is The Love Hypothesis Based On A Fanfiction?
If you’ve seen the original book cover, you might’ve noticed something a little… strange. Olive and Adam look remarkably similar to Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. And the fact is, this isn’t an accident. The Love Hypothesis actually started life as a college AU ‘Reylo’ fanfiction entitled Head Over Feet. For the uninitiated, ‘AU’ in fanfiction terms refers to an ‘alternate universe’ setting, while ‘Reylo’ is the ship name of characters Rey and Kylo Ren from the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Ridley and Driver portray Rey and Kylo Ren in the movies, with their relationship being a key element in The Last Jedi in particular.
Published online in 2018, the story was a huge hit on fanfiction site Archive of Our Own — and it isn’t just Olive and Adam who are based on Star Wars characters. Olive’s best friend Ahn is based on Rose Tico. Jeremy Langley, who is Olive’s ex-boyfriend, is based on General Hux. But the real cherry on top is the fact that we also get to see some Finnpoe action too, as in this novel, the characters based on Finn (Malcolm) and Poe (Dr. Rodriguez) start dating. There’s also another character, Dr. Tom Benton, who doesn’t appear to have a Star Wars counterpart.
While the Star Wars references were largely removed from the final novel, it looks like keeping the male lead’s name as Adam may well be a tribute to Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver.
Who Is In The Love Hypothesis Cast?
In an ironic twist of fate, Adam is being played by Tom Bateman — Daisy Ridley’s IRL husband! Starring opposite him as Olive is none other than Lili Reinhart, who is best known for her role as Betty Cooper in the utterly bonkers teen drama Riverdale.
Other cast members include Rachel Marsh as Anh, Nicholas Duvernay as Jeremy, Jaboukie Young-White as Malcolm, and Arty Froushan as Tom. More cast members such as the person playing Dr. Rodriguez are expected to be announced in due course.
When Will The Love Hypothesis Be Released?
Here’s the best part. The Love Hypothesis already has a release date! The film will be released exclusively on Prime Video on September 23, 2026. With that in mind, keep your eyes peeled for a trailer soon.
