The Reel Review
Two medical research graduate students at Stanford University pretend to date one another – Adam, to win the approval of colleagues and get a grant renewal and Olive to convince her best friend Anh to date a guy Anh mistakenly thinks Olive wants. Lili Reinhart, Tom Bateman and Rachel Marsh star in this romantic comedy adapted from Ali Hazelwood’s 2021 novel.
Silly and contrived premise aside, The Love Hypothesis works primarily because of the fantastic best friend chemistry between Reinhart (Riverdale) and Marsh (Fallout), who, as the ultra-perceptive and self-aware Anh, is the coolest person on campus. Bateman (Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express) is also well cast as the socially awkward, initially villainous postgraduate instructor the students fittingly nickname Dr. Evil.
As expected, the fake dating evolves from extreme awkwardness to genuine feelings between the two as they pursue their respective career goals. The third act takes a surprisingly darker, more serious turn before swinging back into the sunnier, feel good, happy ending that is just as much about the two women’s enduring friendship as Olive and Adam’s romantic relationship.
REEL FACTS
• Cleveland-born Lili Reinhart won seven Teen Choice Awards for portraying Betty Cooper on Riverdale from 2017 to 2023. Her film credits include Look Both Ways, Hustlers and Miss Stevens.
• Seattle-born, Filipino American Rachel Marsh was a member of the comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade before landing acting roles in 2025 in AppleTV+’s The Morning Show, the comedy series Adults and the second season of the post-apocalyptic series Fallout.
• Tom Bateman is married to actress Daisy Ridley (the most recent Star Wars films) – the two have been in a relationship since meeting on the set of 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express.
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