If you’re a film fan, you might have heard about the origin of the 2021 best-selling romance novel The Love Hypothesis. Ali Hazelwood’s story started out as fanfiction about Rey and Kylo Ren from the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Maybe you don’t like that franchise. Or maybe you do, but you didn’t like that pairing. (That would be me.) It’s understandable if those things kept you from checking out the book. However, now that the film version of The Love Hypothesis is streaming on Prime Video, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to like Reylo to enjoy this rom-com. I’m not a Reylo shipper at all but I loved The Love Hypothesis and here’s why!
MORE: For more on The Love Hypothesis, start with reading our review of the rom-com!
The Inspiration
I love Star Wars. The Original Trilogy are some of my favorite films of all time. I also enjoy the Prequel Trilogy and spin-off films a lot. I rewatch most of these films every year. (Around Star Wars Day on May the Fourth, of course!) I have more mixed feelings about the Sequel Trilogy. To discuss them all would be a whole other article, but Reylo is definitely a part of it.
First, I can never emotionally invest in a couple where one of them starts off as a villain. It doesn’t matter if the person turns good later, and it doesn’t matter if there are other villains, if one of the characters is bad when they meet, I’m not shipping that couple. This is the case with Reylo. Plus, the fact that Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is evil is even worse when you find out that he is actually Ben Solo, son of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). It feels insulting to one of my OTPs of all time.
Second, any interaction between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren with romantic undertones doesn’t appear until the second film in the trilogy. They are only antagonists in 2015’s The Force Awakens. Nothing else. In fact, a couple of moments made me wonder if Rey and Finn (John Boyega) had a romantic future. Then 2017’s The Last Jedi introduced the idea of a connection between Rey and Kylo called a Force dyad. They were supposed to be a balance of opposites. I guess shipping was to be expected after that, but I did not join in. I was not surprised when they did not end up together because Kylo gave his life to help save Rey and, by extension, the galaxy.
MORE: We had a list of book scenes from The Love Hypothesis novel that we wanted in the film. Read and see how we did!
Something New
Another thing I love is romance novels. I’m always reading at least one at any given time, though it took me a while to get around to reading Ali Hazelwood’s work. I read and loved 2023’s Love, Theoretically and then decided to go back and read her first novel. I had no idea The Love Hypothesis was based on Reylo fanfiction until after I read it. That was what allowed me to enjoy it as much as I did. Without that preconception, I got to experience Adam and Olive’s romance as theirs, rather than as versions of other characters.
Obviously, the setting and tone of Adam (Tom Bateman) and Olive’s (Lili Reinhart) story are completely different from Rey and Kylo Ren’s. But there are many more elements that make The Love Hypothesis unique. One big change is the character of Adam, and this difference affects the entire narrative. He is never a villain. His being insensitive to the grad students he supervises is absolutely not the same thing as taking a leading role in a fascist, genocidal regime, as Kylo Ren does. Not even close.
The students may call him Dr. Evil, but it doesn’t make me think of the Dark Side, it makes me think of Austin Powers. That’s good for the comedy part of this romantic comedy. Adam also hears Olive’s criticisms of his behavior and tries to improve, even allowing a student who spilled Mountain Dew on their lab samples to stay on his research team. Now that’s growth! I also have to say the fact that Bateman is married to Ridley in real life, and now he’s playing Adam when the villain of the book is named after him, will always be one of my favorite pieces of casting lore.
MORE: If you’re ready to read more books similar to The Love Hypothesis, our list of romances to add to your TBR has you covered!
The Romance
The most significant alteration is the central relationship, though, and this makes sense for a romance. Rey and Kylo Ren began as opponents. They stayed that way for nearly every moment until the final act of the third film, 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. He captures and mentally tortures her in The Force Awakens. That moment ensured I would never ship them, as it goes too far even for the enemies-to-lovers trope. By contrast, Adam helps Olive when he encourages her during their first meeting before her grad school interview.
And there’s more. In another moment that is the opposite of romantic, Kylo Ren tells Rey she is nothing in The Last Jedi. Adam would NEVER. For Adam, Olive is everything. “I wish you could see yourself the way I do,” he tells her, before also calling her beautiful and brilliant. He called her work brilliant earlier in the film, too. Adam is established as someone who doesn’t give praise easily, so this means something.
Adam does more than just say good things. He also does things that put Olive first. He helps her with her fear of public speaking, and he rushes through his keynote speech at a science convention so he can be there to hear her presentation. Adam affirms Olive in the important ways, the ways that build a foundation for love. That’s why it’s so easy to adore The Love Hypothesis even though I’m not a fan of Reylo.
The Love Hypothesis is now streaming on Prime Video.
