When Materialists was released last year, I remember a ton of people talking about why Chris Evans’ monologue as John hits so hard. Rom-coms, for a moment, were praised again, even by the people who generally don’t give the genre a chance the way those of us who consume it daily do, and the answer always comes down to the performances. If the actors don’t care about the story they’re selling, then even die-hard fans of the genre will be able to tell. But thankfully, Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis is not only in good hands with the incredible screenplay by Sarah Rothschild, but also with its leading stars, Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman.
There are few things I love being right about quite like casting, and when we first got the news of it for The Love Hypothesis, I had full faith in the two of them. They were perfect right from the jump, and we hadn’t even seen the material at that point. And now that the movie’s out, it’s safe to say the chemistry is sizzling, the banter is top-tier, and more importantly, both Reinhart and Bateman are both embodying Olive Smith and Adam Carlsen with layers and heart.
In more ways than one, writing a book like The Love Hypothesis isn’t easy, so credit to Hazelwood’s witty and brilliant brain for source material that leaps off the page. But the tropes in general could sometimes fumble if actors teeter too close to caricature versions of the characters, and the opposite happens here. From the beginning, it’s clear that both Reinhart and Bateman not only understand their respective characters, but the genre, too. Romance as a genre is often mocked and ridiculed, but here, the actors have a grasp on why it matters and how it amplifies the story. It’s giddy and fun, yes, but it’s also instrumental in our lives. Connections are a large part of our experience as humans, and no genre understands this as intimately as romance.
Banter, laughs, vulnerability, and sex are a part of character building, and it’s all brought to life brilliantly in The Love Hypothesis. As I said in my review: “Adam Carlsen needed to be a man who’d perfected secret yearning, and Bateman nails this art brilliantly. A single look from him carries a thousand words at once, giving the audience subtle clues of just how deeply and desperately he’s wanted Olive from the moment they met. And Reinhart does a beautifully convincing job of bringing to life Olive’s quirks without ever once making her seem inorganic or too much. She’s profoundly relatable, honest, genuinely funny, and so warm that it makes her the most captivating light to Adam’s darkness.”
But to amplify those thoughts further, every look from both characters gives us so much more than the words they say out loud. There’s genuine care placed into bringing these characters to life. There’s no mockery or disdain for the genre. That final scene of the two of them recognizing that they’ve never been in this situation and don’t know how to move forward is so nuanced that we can explore it for hours. A simple line about Olive’s demisexuality allows countless people, myself included, to feel seen. They only get one first date compared to the book, yet everything about it gives us enough to grasp just why they can last as a pairing. The care that’s placed into honoring the book’s Chapter 16. It’s all incredible, and so much of it is because of the performances.
The Love Hypothesis is now streaming on Prime Video.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Prime Video