The Love Hypothesis Movie's Biggest Changes From the Book Revealed
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Love Hypothesis book and movie.
Hypothesis: It’s possible to make a film adaptation of a bestselling romance novel that readers will love.
While the results may vary, as with any book to movie adaptation, there are some key differences between Ali Hazelwood’s 2021 novel The Love Hypothesis and Prime Video’s 2026 rom-com starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman, out Sept. 23
For those unfamiliar with the BookTok favorite, which began as Star Wars fanfiction, The Love Hypothesis follows PhD candidate Olive Smith (Reinhart) and Stanford University professor Dr. Adam Carlsen (Bateman), who, after an impulsive kiss, form a fake relationship and pretend to date.
And though some characters and scenes are altered for the film, don’t worry, romance readers—not only is chapter 16 in the movie, but it is not watered down. (The movie is rated R, after all.)
To see what actually did change, grab your lab coat and goggles—and read on for a deep dive into the biggest book to movie differences in The Love Hypothesis…
Holden Is Completely Absent From The Love Hypothesis Movie
Almost the entire cast of characters from Hazelwood’s novel make into the film, except for one beloved supporting character: Dr. Holden Rodriguez, Adam’s childhood best friend who stirs up a romance with Olive’s roommate and BFF Malcolm (played by Jaboukie Young-White in the film).
As of a result of Holden’s absence in the movie, Olive doesn’t get a warning about Dr. Tom Benton (Arty Froushan) and his possible nefarious intentions.
Amazon MGM Studios
Jeremy (Nicolas Duvernay) and Olive (Lili Reinhart) Never Dated in The Love Hypothesis Movie
Early on in the film, it’s revealed that Jeremy and Olive’s past was adapted differently. While the two are exes in the novel, the movie presents Jeremy as Olive’s years-long crush, but they never dated.
Despite this, Olive’s inspiration to fake date Adam is the same, with Olive—seeing the chemistry between Jeremy and Anh (Rachel Marsh)—realizes her best friend needs a push to date Jeremy without guilt.
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New Scene Shows Adam (Tom Bateman) and Olive (Lili Reinhart) Attending a Cocktail Party with Fellow Scientists
An added scene in the film features Adam and Olive going on a fake date at a party being put on by a head of Adam’s department, so he can prove he’s putting down roots at Stanford through his relationship with Olive.
At the party, Olive is asked to discuss her research about pancreatic cancer. Though nervous to speak in front of her peers, she reluctantly agrees, but is grilled by Dr. Tom Benton (Froushan), a professor at Harvard and longtime friend of Adam’s, who Olive hopes will fund her research at the university.
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The Dr. Tom Benton (Arty Froushan) of It All
Speaking of Tom, fans will undoubtedly notice several details regarding the antagonist of the story are altered for the film. Along with Tom first meeting Olive in-person at a faculty picnic and the added cocktail party scene, the movie shows Tom inviting Olive to speak at the Boston science conference, rather than Olive being invited by organizers.
Additionally, the pivotal scene from the book—in which Olive accidentally records Tom sexually harassing her at the conference after she rejects his advances—is not featured in the film.
Instead, Tom visits Olive in her hotel room and threatens her, saying she has to sleep with him or he’ll steal her research. But she doesn’t record the encounter.
Another change? Adam learns that Tom is going to fund Olive’s research when Tom tells him himself.
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The Way Adam (Tom Bateman) Breaks Up with Olive (Lili Reinhart) in The Love Hypothesis
The third act breakup in the adaptation contrasts to that in the novel in more ways than one. Though Olive emotionally calls off her fake relationship with Adam after being threatened by Tom in the book, it’s Adam who breaks up with Olive in the movie.
After arriving home from the Boston conference, Adam ignores Olive’s calls, before sharing that their arrangement is done as he falsely believes she’s going to move to Boston to work under Tom at Harvard.
Amazon MGM Studios
How Adam Learns About the Truth About Tom—And the Way He Confronts Him—Are Different
In the book, Adam learns about Tom’s horrific act when Olive plays him the audio recording of Tom’s threatening message at a Boston restaurant, resulting in a heated moment with Adam confronting Tom.
But since the audio recording plot point isn’t included in the film, the situation plays out differently. While in a lab bathroom with Adam, Anh reveals the truth of what Tom did to Olive, with Adam then storming into a classroom to confront his former friend in an epic dramatic moment.
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Adam (Tom Bateman) and Olive (Lili Reinhart) Address Iconic Meet-Cute Much Earlier, Changing Details of Their Love Declaration
While the prologue scene in the book detailing Adam and Olive first meeting in the former’s lab bathroom—where Olive’s vision is blurry and she can’t see who she’s speaking to because of her expired contacts—is played out very similarly in the movie, the way it’s addressed later varies.
Following the pair’s “fake” date at a cocktail party, Adam makes a comment about Olive’s “expired contacts,” to which she realizes he was the man from the bathroom and she confronts him, resulting in a heartfelt moment between the two.
In the book, Olive also learns Adam was the mystery man after he makes a reference to that day. However, she doesn’t bring up that she knows it was him. In fact, it’s not addressed again until the end of the book when Olive and Adam declare their love for one another and the latter reveals that he’s been secretly into her ever since their first meeting years ago.
But the love declaration in the film is still just as sweet, with the pair confessing their feelings and agreeing to start over—forming a new hypothesis.
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