Adapted from Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, this seductive, psychological thriller follows renowned author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) and Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), a struggling writer who relocates to the remote Crawford estate to ghostwrite for Verity. After Lowen uncovers what appears to be Verity’s chilling autobiographical notes, she wrestles with the disturbing and twisted confessions about Verity’s husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and finds it hard to separate fiction from reality, manipulation from attraction, and opportunity from obsession.
What We Thought:
Verity is going to be a hard film to review. The issues I have with it are most likely spoilers so I really can’t get into why the movie didn’t work for me in the end. I’ll say this, about 85% of it is just ridiculous enough to be entertaining. It appeared to have an ending that I felt worked well that gave good closure and that the audience could respect, but then it has a second ending which is a total cop out and ruins the film.
Anne Hathaway plays a famous thriller author named Verity Crawford. Her husband Jeremy is played by Josh Hartnett. Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh who is also an author, but is far from successful. When an accident makes it impossible for Verity to continue writing, Lowen is hired to ghostwrite the series. She moves into the family’s home in Vermont where Verity has countless notes, outlines and more to help her dig into the characters.
Of course you can immediately guess that there’s going to be more to the story. Lowen finds a flashdrive with what appears to be an autobiography from Verity which shocks her to her core. Her entire outlook on the situation changes and she’s not sure what do about it. With Johnson, Hathaway, and Hartnett in it you can also guess it’s probably going to be an erotic thriller which means, like The Housemaid, you will guess what happens with all the attractive people. The majority of the movie you’ll see coming if you’ve ever seen a movie before, but I’m fine with that. In fact, I found myself laughing at its predictability which at least entertained me. A bunch of us were laughing at it, not with it, because we aren’t the right gender for its audience.
For the bulk of it I’m ok with the predictability, the rom-com/erotic thriller tropes, the ridiculous names of the characters and how it feels like every other film/book in the genre. I’m not the target audience so it’s irrelevant if I like it, but for a while I was at least having fun with it. Then it ends and I was like wow, not unwatchable. I thought the Lindsay Clancy crowd would dig it. But it wasn’t the ending. There’s an add on that absolutely ruins it. Instead of a wrapped up, happy ending where all the characters get exactly what they deserve, it changes everything. It changes why characters did things and the results of their actions. It changes the tone of the entire narrative. It’s almost like it remembered it’s a movie in 2026 based on a book written by a woman, it had to have a different ending. It’s a total cop out and I wish I could explain why, but you know, spoilers.
I’m not familiar with Colleen Hoover’s book that Verity is based on. In fact, I didn’t even know it was a book until the day I saw the movie. I can’t tell you how faithful the adaptation is, but from what people said at the screening, the movie and book seem pretty close. If you are a fan of the book or Colleen Hoover’s work in general you’ll probably enjoy it. Movie adaptations of books like this are hits if the book club members show up. Hoover’s It Ends With Us was a monster hit. Her Regretting You and Reminders of Him both made some money, but weren’t the juggernauts It Ends With Us was. It wasn’t a Hoover book, but the movie it’s going to be compared to is The Housemaid which I already mentioned. If that audience turns up then Verity will be a smash. If it kept the first ending I would have recommended it to even those of us not in its targeted demographic, but with the additional ending, it ends up just being a women’s book club flick.
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Brady Wagner
Directed by: Michael Showalter
Screenplay by: Nick Antosca
Based on the book by: Colleen Hoover
Produced by: Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund, p.g.a., Stacey Sher, p.g.a., Michael Showalter, Jordana Mollick, p.g.a., Anne Hathaway, Colleen Hoover
Executive Producers: Kerry Orent, Dakota Johnson, Lauren Levine
