VERITY (2026)

Genre: Thriller
Director: Michael Showalter
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Irina Dvorovenko
Runtime: 1 hr 57 min
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes)
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 October 2026

Synopsis: 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.

Movie Review:

Colleen Hoover is currently one of the most in-demand writers in Hollywood. Verity follows It Ends With Us, Regretting You and Reminders of Him as the latest of her works to be turned into a movie adaptation. Touted as a psychological erotic thriller, Verity is a departure from Hoover’s usual works, which mostly lean towards romance.

Sounds exciting, isn’t it? Especially for those skeptics who find Hoover’s works overly sentimental and predictable.

Anne Hathaway stars as Verity Crawford, a successful writer who is rendered catatonic after an accident. Her publisher, following a recommendation from Verity’s husband Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett), brings in struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to ghostwrite Verity’s unfinished novels.

To work on the latest book and reference Verity’s notes, Lowen moves into the Crawfords’ lavish lake house in Vermont. It’s there that Lowen discovers there is much more to Verity and Jeremy, as well as the tragedy surrounding the loss of their daughter, Harper.

Can we just cut to the chase and address the elephant in the room?

For all the promised psychological thrills and suspense, director Michael Showalter (The Idea of You) and writer Nick Antosca deliver nothing but lethargy over a span of nearly 90 minutes. Sure, there is some sexual tension between Jeremy and Lowen, but you need more than that to keep things going. As a worthy distraction, you can marvel at the stunning lake house and cinematography while waiting for the next twist or turn.

Unfortunately, the so-called narrative twist or revelation never arrives until the final act. To be fair, we have never read the novel on which the movie is based, so we can only conclude that it all feels rather flaccid and, perhaps, eye-rolling. To prevent spoiling your viewing experience, we won’t reveal much about the ending, but let’s just say it has nothing to do with the supernatural, unlike the much superior mystery thriller What Lies Beneath (2000).

What truly transpires probably works better on paper than on the big screen. It’s all about things that may or may not have happened. Is it all in Verity’s mind or simply the product of her wild writer’s imagination? Or is there a more heinous truth that Jeremy might not be the perfect husband after all? After sitting through almost two hours, there isn’t a particularly satisfying conclusion to all the trashy happenings at the lake house.

It has definitely been a productive year for Anne Hathaway. But who remembers that she also appeared opposite Matthew McConaughey in the poorly received, similarly themed sexy mystery thriller Serenity (2019)? The good thing, however, is that even though she is playing a catatonic patient, Hathaway somehow looks more “alive” than Dakota Johnson, who seems to be in a completely different movie. Johnson simply looks bored, disinterested and her character laughingly admits as much in the movie. It’s good to finally see Josh Hartnett back in studio-backed movies, but honestly, he doesn’t need to follow McConaughey’s old footsteps and get stuck in the same sexy-mystery-thriller rut.

Neither thrilling, sexy nor satisfying as a mystery, Verity feels more like a vanity project for Amazon MGM to jump onto the Colleen Hoover bandwagon.

Movie Rating:

(Eroticism, sexiness and mystery are certainly not the words I would use to describe Verity)

Review by Linus Tee