Streaming Sunday – The Hating Game

Streaming Sunday features TV series or movies adapted from books I’ve read, offered on at least one streaming service and I’ve watched.

The Hating Game movie is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Sally Thorne. It’s an enemy-to-lovers story where they both work in the same office. To say they’re highly competitive is the understatement of the century. It stars Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell and was directed by Peter Hutchings.

It’s the story of Lucy Hutton (the good girl) who is described as being ambitious but not wanting to compromise her ethics in the business world. Following a merger, she’s pitted against the cold and über efficient Joshua Templeton as they compete for the same job. Lucy embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against Joshua and it’s game on.

The movie is surprisingly similar to the details of the book and feels perfectly cast. It’s a slick production, which isn’t always the case for romance adaptations. I loved the book and had high expectations for the movie. In fact, I coughed up the full price the day it was released for streaming on Apple TV+!

Lucy and Joshua have great screen chemistry whether they’re in hate mode or romantic. I thought they represented their book characters really well and had good comedic timing.

Despite the professional production and character chemistry, the movie lacked the charm and charisma mastered by the book. It’s been a few years since I read the story but I still recall most of it. However, the movie is highly entertaining, probably more so if you haven’t read the book. I liked it a lot, just didn’t love it. But, I’d recommend it.

The movie debuted on December 10, 2021 with a limited release in theaters and via Demand and streaming simultaneously by most service platforms. It’s now free on Hulu with a subscription and available for order as low as $2.99 on a variety of platforms.