The Love Hypothesis
Overview
Olive Smith is a PhD candidate at Stanford, sharp enough to be taken for granted and quiet enough to go unnoticed. When a friend asks if she is over her ex, Olive panics and kisses the first person she sees: Dr. Adam Carlsen.
They strike a deal, surprisingly. They enter a fake relationship for mutual benefit. They are confident they can keep feelings out of it. Adam wants university officials to stop meddling in his personal life, while Olive needs to prove she has moved on.
Two scientists, and one controlled arrangement. Both are certain they can keep it clean, but they cannot. The line between fiction and reality blurs halfway through their experiment. Unexpected chemistry takes over, and the carefully defended theories on love they built over years collapse under the weight of actual proximity.
Neither knows how to stop without admitting what stopping truly means.
Cast
Lili Reinhart
Nicholas Duvernay
Tom Bateman
Arty Froushan
Jeananne Goossen
Rachel Marsh
Jaboukie Young-White
Kenny Wong
Fun Facts
- It is a well-known internet fact that Ali Hazelwood originally wrote The Love Hypothesis as a Star Wars fanfiction centering on the romance between Rey and Kylo Ren. In a mind-bending casting coincidence, the grumpy male lead, Dr. Adam Carlsen, is played by Tom Bateman, who is married in real life to Daisy Ridley, the actress who played Rey! Ridley visited the set during production, with Bateman reflecting that it was "thrilling" and incredibly full-circle for his wife to watch him act in a movie directly inspired by her iconic sci-fi character.
- Lili Reinhart didn't just audition for the lead role, she actively chased it down. Reinhart posted on TikTok that she had been hunting for a high-quality contemporary romance novel that she could personally option, produce, and star in. She ultimately teamed up with veteran producer Elizabeth Cantillon to back the project under Amazon MGM Studios, giving her significant creative control over ensuring the book's core charm remained intact.