Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
Ever wondered if it’s possible to earn a Ph.D. and experience love on the Farm? In “The Love Hypothesis” (2026), director Claire Scanlon delivers a bizarre adaptation of author and neuroscience professor Ali Hazelwood’s romance novel of the same name.
Set at Stanford, the story depicts a fake dating plot between doctoral candidate Olive Smith (Lili Reinhart) and professor Dr. Adam Carlsen (Tom Bateman). I spent much of the film cringing at the awkward dialogue and hammy performances — with the exception of Reinhart, who is charming throughout.
Fake dating is an appealing trope because there is never a good reason to pretend to date someone in real life. Olive and Adam’s fauxmance is the product of Olive’s concern for her best friend Anh’s (Rachel March) happiness. Olive has a crush on fellow student Jeremy (Nicholas Duvernay), but Jeremy and Anh like each other. Anh declines to date him out of concern for Olive.
The (imperfect) solution? Olive lies about being in a relationship and spontaneously kisses Adam when Anh almost discovers her deception. Full-blown subterfuge is required to maintain the ruse, which is complicated by Adam’s infamous reputation as “Dr Evil.”
Small wonder that the man who runs his lab with an iron fist (rightfully) threatens to file a Title IX complaint after Olive plants her lips on his without consent. Adam only becomes amenable to being a pretend boyfriend because his research funds are in jeopardy. Apparently, having a serious girlfriend signals he won’t leave Stanford for another university.
As a social scientist, I have a limited understanding of the natural sciences. However, the concept of having a special sweetheart to appear serious about your job is a side of academia unbeknownst to me. Even more curious is the case of Adam being both a postdoctoral researcher and professor who sits on dissertation committees.
(On the note of realism: By the time the terms of Olive and Adam’s fake relationship are set, I had already suspected that this was an uncanny version of the Farm. The opening establishing shot of Palm Drive and the Oval had me questioning whether Stanford was used as a set, until the camera swooped down to a Mission Revival style building that is certainly not here!)
Adam reassures Olive that a fake relationship is totally above board according to Stanford’s code of ethics. Relationships between doctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars are allowed … well, as long as they are in different departments. I audibly sighed at this dialogue. It’s an instance where the audience is inelegantly reassured their dating is ethical, and I knew I’d have to verify the claim. Depiction is not endorsement, but something being permitted doesn’t make it wise.
The movie showcases the hijinks characteristic of a plot where fake dating develops into real feelings: a field day event where Anh goads Olive into helping her special sweetheart reapply sunscreen; a cocktail party where Olive recounts their fake meet-cute to embarrass Adam for being a jerk.
Anh is reasonably skeptical of this relationship, and their mutual friend, Malcolm (Jaboukie Young-White) is horrified. Malcolm is a student in Adam’s research group and has first-hand experience of Adam’s mean-spiritedness. Malcolm would be justified in questioning Olive’s choice to date a man who uses his position of authority to mistreat his students. Instead, Malcolm picks a fight with Olive after Adam sanctions him for his failure to be responsible — a choice that is strong but wrong.
Indeed, it is this strong but wrong dynamic that characterizes the whole film. There are long scenes of exposition and clunky dialogue. The performances draw on Disney Channel sitcom-style acting. Characters deliver lines in declamations, as if they were in front of a live studio audience and waiting for laughs. Reinhart, though, avoids the theatrical posture. She negotiates the absurdities of the action and commits to each moment with the appropriate amount of gravitas. “The Love Hypothesis” is yet another film released this year that doesn’t quite make use of Reinhart’s talent.
“The Love Hypothesis” makes an effort to recognize gender- and race-based inequities in academia and casual cruelty from principal investigators. Yet, no one in the racially diverse cast questions why Olive would willingly rehabilitate Adam’s image. There is an attempt to humanize Adam by having him explain his own mistreatment as a doctoral student. This scene paints him in a poor light, as he defends his behavior by claiming he had a worse experience than his students.
Rom-com convention dictates that Olive and Adam will end up together. But aside from one charming scene featuring an M&Ms heart, the open question is whether their happily ever after feels earned. The scientific method is considered the gold standard for generating knowledge. I am certain I didn’t love the film, but it was still a welcome break from my own doctoral work. Like modern romance itself, “The Love Hypothesis” leaves much to be desired, and yet there is still something of value if you go searching for it.