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Already Watched 'The Love Hypothesis'? 5 Huge Changes Prime Video Made From the Book

the love hypothesis movie book differences
Prime Video

The Love Hypothesis dropped on Prime Video September 23. The story follows Olive (Lili Reinhart) and Adam (Tom Bateman), who agree to fake date to help advance both of their careers and personal lives. But things get a little complicated when real feelings get added into the mix!

Fans of Ali Hazelwood's book are already talking about the differences between the book and the movie so let's talk about five of the biggest changes.


5 differences between The Love Hypothesis book and movie, streaming now on Prime Video.

Cutting out Holden's whole character.

"The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood

Amazon

In The Love Hypothesis book, we meet a character named Dr. Holden Rodrigues, who definitely stands in contrast to both Adam and Tom. Plus, Holden ends up getting together with Malcolm. But this character is totally eliminated from the movie, and it seems like the main focus is between Adam and Tom exclusively.

Speaking of Tom Benton...

tom in the love hypothesis movie

Prime Video

Tom has a much larger presence in the movie, which makes me think his new role is meant to combine his book character with Holden just a bit. In the book, Tom comes to Stanford and then returns to Boston with Adam. Plus, his conversation with Olive about her research happens at Adam's apartment in the novel instead of in front of a ton of faculty.

That scene in the movie was so painful to watch and I could definitely tell something was off about the whole thing...Tom gave me the ick from the beginning!

Malcolm's exit from school

The love hypothesis cast

Prime Video

Malcolm also experiences some pretty big changes in the adaptation, even apart from his relationship. Instead of staying in school and (somewhat) getting along with Adam thanks to Holden, movie Adam ends up kicking Malcolm off the research team in the movie and he drops out of school after his parents cut him off.

The Fake Dating

the love hypothesis movie review

Prime Video

I don't think fake dating is my favorite trope of all time, but I do love the tension that comes when it's time to end the relationship...and even though both characters don't want to, they decide to end it anyway. So that being said, I'm not too mad about The Love Hypothesis movie changing the end of Olive and Adam's relationship so that Adam ends up letting Olive go because he thinks he's helping her focus on her career (I do hate, however, that he doesn't help her when she needs him most!).

The novel sees Olive end the relationship instead. We also learn that Adam's had a crush on her long before they came up with their plan, which is a plot point totally removed from the movie.

The Adam vs. Tom showdown is very different in 'The Love Hypothesis' movie from the book.

tom bateman as adam carlsen

Prime Video

Tom sexually harasses Olive in both the movie and the book, but in the novel, she ends up recording the conversation...and then plays it for Anh and Malcolm. When she tells Adam about her real feelings, she also confronts Tom — and then Adam throws hands in the restaurant.

If you ask me, this is definitely more satisfying than what we see in the movie, when Anh tells Adam about the harassment and he confronts Tom during a lecture (which Olive sees on an Instagram live).

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