Verity ★★★

Released: 2 October 2026

Director: Michael Showalter

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett

We might as well call Anne Hathaway the starlet of 2026 as she’s starred in pretty much every film that has dominated cinemas this year. We could say something similar about author Colleen Hoover too, who has had four book adaptations within a two year period, with two released this year. At the start of the year we saw ‘Reminders of Him’ make a lukewarm mark at the box office, but her latest project ‘Verity’, directed by Michael Showalter, is already dominating the box office, and doing slightly better than Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’.

Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is feeling the angst of being an unnoticed author when few people turn up to her book reading. Soon after, when she feels ready to give it up, she’s approached by a high-end publisher to help one of their best-selling authors to finish the next book in their popular series. The author turns out to be Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who is known for writing from the perspective of immoral villains. After being left paralysed following a near-fatal car accident, Verity is unable to fulfil the rest of her writing contract. Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), Verity’s husband, is still mourning the loss of his daughter Harper who died in a tragic accident, prior to the author’s own ordeal. He is adamant that Lowen is the best fit for the job. Lowen soon accepts the role and moves temporarily into the family’s lakeside home in Vermont. Soon the author is fully immersed in Verity’s office and stumbles upon her unfinished autobiography manuscript which turns out to be a shocking read of dark thoughts and shocking confusions. While Lowen finishes her notes and starts writing Verity’s next book, she begins to fall for Jeremy and thus marks the start of unravelling all of the family’s secrets and lies.

Following the success of Paul Feig’s adaptation of ‘The Housemaid’ earlier this year, audiences have been craving more psychological erotic thrillers. ‘Verity’ is sexy and intimate that when all the twists start playing out on the screen it feels seductive and thrilling. However, and it’s a big one at that, it’s all too tame. Give us more. The film needed more exploration of Lowen and Jeremy’s chemistry for it to feel believable. In other words, we want more sex and certainly more substance into their love affair rather than some fruitless tease of it.

While the film’s genre thrills lack oomph, the main issues lie within the film’s structure. The secrets that come to light are exposed abruptly, without much build up. Ultimately leaving audiences feeling underwhelmed or having already guessed the revelations leading up to the big moment if they haven’t read the book. All three of the leading stars nail their performances which makes everything wrong with the film seem forgivable: Johnson and Hartnett lead with great and effortless chemistry, while Hathaway, who is mainly shown in online clips or flashbacks, makes Verity look so beautifully hard to read.

Verity is just fine. Not all films need to be a masterpiece which is what I think a lot of people forget about. In fact this is the exact kinda ‘garbage’ film that us girls need to be consuming right now. Plus, we have to keep supporting our leading lady Anne Hathaway – long may she continue reigning the world of cinema.