The Love Hypothesis (2026) No Spoiler Review: It Feels Like a Filipino Wattpad Story Turned Into an Amazon Movie

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The Love Hypothesis (2026) is a slow, fluffy rom-com that never makes you feel the love story it’s selling.

Claire Scanlon directs, with Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman in the leads, adapted from Ali Hazelwood’s 2021 novel. They do market it as a rom-com, and Lili Reinhart went all in. She went to her press screenings and interviews in the best outfits, each one inspired by a classic rom-com. She wore the yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) and one of the looks from 13 Going on 30 (2004). She said she did the research.

The meet-cute is the very first scene, and it’s probably one of the worst I’ve ever seen in a rom-com. This is a slow build. Things only start to get interesting about 40 minutes in. We actually gave up on our first watch and had to force ourselves to give it a second go. My wife ultimately gave up 20 minutes into our second sitting.

When it gets going, it’s actually pretty interesting and passable, though the characters need more development. Tom Bateman, the leading man, is not handsome enough, I think, but I’m no expert on that. He’s a Sheldon type from The Big Bang Theory (2007), just with abs and a full beard. Not exactly relatable for other men.

Lili Reinhart is, of course, a darling, but even though I love her so much, I just can’t with this movie. I kind of feel bad for her when I compare her to Camila Mendes. Cami has had a lot of movies and roles since their Riverdale (2017) days. Not all of them are good, and most are just passable, but she’s been in the spotlight more.

Rachel Marsh is okay. She works as the best friend character. I remember her from Unstable (2023), a Netflix comedy that didn’t last, and then I never heard from her again. But I remember bookmarking her name, and I’m glad she’s having her time in the limelight. It’s perfect timing with the whole Filipino wave, with ube, Alex Eala, and Forgotten Island (2026) all proving it’s here.

Nicholas Duvernay’s Jeremy, on the other hand, was really lacking in development. If he was supposed to be the other love interest and a cornerstone of the story, then they should have built that up more. Olive, Lili Reinhart’s character, barely shows her feelings for Jeremy. It’s terribly underplayed, limited to some signs, a few looks, a couple of flustered moments, and cute words that mean nothing. You never FEEL that she loves him, or even likes him, to be honest. So in the end, you don’t really feel the love triangle, because it was never established.

It’s also another story where a good, nice girl wants to change the angry “bad guy,” and they try to change each other. They’re not really in love. They fake it, and then they fall for each other. It’s 2026, and that is so unoriginal. Perhaps Ali Hazelwood’s book was good with its full story, but this movie certainly doesn’t do it justice. For a film in 2026, it’s played out, uninspiring, and not worth anyone’s time.

Even the title, Love Hypothesis, isn’t spelled out. I mean, sure, they’re scientists, but why are the letters styled like the periodic table? Are they chemists? And yes, the setting is a research space, but there really wasn’t enough of anything. It was just a lot of fluff that didn’t contribute to the story.

The last act was pretty disappointing and, honestly, a bit disturbing. It doesn’t fit the general mood of the whole thing. It definitely wasn’t cute anymore.

And one last gripe. Anh is a Vietnamese name, but they made her Filipino. That was not cool.

This movie feels like a Filipino Wattpad story that someone turned into an Amazon movie.

★★☆☆☆ for me.

Watching along? My whole film diary is on Letterboxd.