The Love Hypothesis, originally a Reylo fanfic, debuts with a higher critics' score than The Rise of Skywalker, and people have strong opinions about it

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Giuliana Tiscioni • Writer
Sep 25, 2026 9:00 AM EDT

No one is willing to bet on a fanfiction until they see how far it can go… 

Two days ago, the movie adaptation of The Love Hypothesis came out on Amazon Prime. For all of us book readers and romcom fans, that was great news! We've been encountering a shortage of good romantic comedies in the last few years, so having a new one that is also based on a romance book that went viral and was read by half of the BookTok community felt like finding an oasis after walking around a desert for days. 

The thing many people don't know about the movie (or should I say, the book) is that it was originally written as Reylo fanfic. What is Reylo, you may ask? Well, let me enlighten you. Reylo refers to the combination of the names Rey and Kylo Ren, the protagonists of the last Star Wars trilogy, the sequels everybody pretends never happened. We would have never imagined that Ali Hazelwood, author of the book, is as geeky a fan as the rest of us, and we love her all the more for that. 

The last Star Wars trilogy presents a somewhat unusual plot involving those two characters, Rey and Kylo Ren, who end up getting into an odd sort of romantic relationship that lasts very little, since Kylo goes ahead and makes himself one with the Force, if you know what I mean. The Love Hypothesis introduces us to an alternate universe where these characters finally have the chance to have a real relationship. If you pay attention, you'll see that the descriptions of the protagonists in the book match the appearances of Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, actors who portrayed Rey and Kylo. 

The funny thing here is that The Rise of Skywalker, the movie that presents the romance of the original characters, has a lower critic's score on Rotten Tomatoes than its fanfiction counterpart. Yeah, it's exactly what you're thinking: fanfiction won. The Rise of Skywalker has 51% of critics' approval, while The Love Hypothesis has 76%, with only two days since it premiered. The fanfiction had a better debut week than the original movie did. Who would have thought… 

This is proof that anything can be improved with some twists and a few pieces of good writing. On close inspection, you can't even tell that it was originally supposed to be a fanfic: The Love Hypothesis reads as a perfectly independent, wholesome love story. If the writing is good, the story is entertaining, and the production is well thought out, it doesn't matter where they got the inspiration or the idea in the first place. When done right, a piece of fanfiction can even surpass its original source material. 

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  • CBR STAR WARS FAN FICTION MOVIE DEBUTS WITH HIGHER RT SCORE THAN RISE OF SKYWALKER READ MORE ON CBR CBR cbrofficialpage Follow CBR cbrofficialpage FAN FICTION HAS DONE IT AGAIN. Before The Love Hypothesis became a bestselling romance novel and Prime Video movie, Ali Hazelwood's story began online as Head Over Feet, fan fiction inspired by Star Wars' Reylo ship. Now we've come full circle. The Love Hypothesis: 81% from critics The Rise of Skywalker: 51% from critics Even more unusually, The Love
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  • katsamelson Maybe if reylo lived happily ever after in the rise of skywalker, then it might have gotten a better score 15h 700 likes Reply See translation
    via katsamelson
  • bluebutterflygirl24 Because it has a HAPPY ENDING & didn't stab Reylo fans in the back in the final minutes. 15h 392 likes Reply See translation
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  • 20.kgc because ali hazelwood is a romance genius 15h 181 likes Reply See translation
    via 20.kgc
  • stoleyourmateria maybe if the RISE of skywalker ended with ben and rey teaching new force users versus killing off the last Skywalker, they will have a higher rating 13h 81 likes Reply See translation
    via stoleyourmateria
  • crocheted_by_pixie Love the book, but can't watch this because ADAM DRIVER is and always will be DR Adam Carlsen....... 9h 29 likes Reply See translation
    via crocheted_by_pixie
  • eve.moon_ when i say we need to prioritize urgent news this is exactly what i mean 12h 4 likes Reply See translation
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  • emily._.mcdonagh Please give us a hint for Ben Solo we need it in these trying times 7h 2 likes Reply See translation
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  • ludromeiro See what a book fan base can do? Now respect us and give truthful adaptations! 13h 11 likes Reply See translation
    via ludromeiro
  • kay_gee2121 "If the boy and girl walk off into the sunset hand- in-hand in the last scene, it adds 10 million to the box office." ~ George Lucas Bring Ben Solo back and things could change. #SaveBenSolo 13h 16 likes Reply See translation
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  • jxnellat I find it funny how it's a fanfic of reylo and Daisy Ridley's (who was Rey) partner is Dr Adam 39m Reply See translation
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  • karaleve @starwars @starwarsmovies @disney @joshdamaro You think it might be time to make #TheHuntForBenSolo yet? 2h Reply See translation
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  • COMPAR n_tower24_thehuntforbensolo It means people want Rey and Ben happy. For this reason we need #TheHuntForBenSolo 4h 2 likes Reply See translation
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  • thisbarbieisdefyinggravity Because the rise of skywalker was garbage and any fanfic writer out there could have produced a better finale film <3 13h Reply See translation
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  • REINHART The prime original TOM BATEMAN LOVE Hypothesis 76% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis follows Olive (Lili Reinhart), a brilliant Ph.D. candidate... Rime NEWHORE SEPTEMBER 23
    via Rotten Tomatoes

    Current score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

  • STAR WARS 51% Tomatometer 522 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Verified Ratings When it's discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not di at the hands of Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out...
    via Rotten Tomatoes

    Current critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes  

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ali hazelwood movie adaptation Adam olive Movie daisy ridley the rise of skywalker lili reinhart fanfiction tom bateman the love hypothesis adam driver
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