Film Review – Verity

October 1st, 2026 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

It’s not too often you get a film that tells you being a good writer is bad for your health. And yet, that is precisely the kind of upside-down logic that comes with Verity (2026). Directed by Michael Showalter with a screenplay by Nick Antosca (adapting Colleen Hoover’s novel), the film is your classic erotic thriller with plenty of absurd twists, hot and heavy love scenes, and the complete dismissal of common sense. Now, that may sound like a good time at the movies. There are scenes and sequences that delve into pure camp. However, the final product is a little too goofy for its own good – a little too obsessed with throwing in twist after twist. It cares less about telling a compelling story as it does messing with the audience’s expectations.

You kinda know what you’re in for when a classic Meet-Cute happens concurrently with a death. That is exactly what occurs when writer Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) bumps into hunky Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett). Their meeting on a busy New York City street coincides with a bicyclist accidentally getting killed by a motor vehicle. Covered in blood, Lowen – accompanied by Jeremy – heads over to a public bathroom to clean up before an important business meeting. And wouldn’t you know it: that very meeting also includes Jeremy! We discover that Lowen has been hired by Jeremy to help ghostwrite and complete the unfinished work of his wife, the famed author Verity (Anne Hathaway). Tragically, Verity was involved in an accident that has left her in a catatonic state. Pressure from her agent and publisher has pushed Jeremy to call upon someone to finish Verity’s most recent book. Stuck in dire financial straits, Lowen takes the job, travelling to Vermont to stay with Jeremy, Verity, and their son Crew (Brady Wagner) while she works.

The casting of Dakota Johnson as Lowen is an interesting one, as the role shares striking similarities to her character in Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). Both are unsuspecting people brought into a world of wealth and luxury, both fall under the spell of those they meet, they enter a plot full of sex and desire, and both uncover dark secrets that could endanger them. Once Lowen steps into Verity and Jeremy’s home, something seems amiss. The house is made of wood paneling and floor to ceiling windows. Its structure features sharp corners and odd angles, with hallways that go in random directions. The house reflects Verity’s success, but it isn’t very warm or inviting. Lowen opens Verity’s boxes of notes, plot outlines, and random story details, trying to piece everything together to complete her novel. One document catches Lowen’s eye – a manuscript Verity has written containing her deepest thoughts and darkest secrets.

This document serves as the thread that ties the entire narrative together. Once Lowen reads Verity’s manuscript, the film shifts into a series of flashbacks, where we see Verity in her time before her accident. The things she confesses – involving her relationship with Jeremy, her kids, her hopes and fears (both professionally and personally) rattle Lowen to the point where her involvement with the family and the job changes. What follows is one twist after another, where we aren’t quite sure who is telling the truth, what anyone’s real motivations are, or if anyone is being earnest or deceiving. Whomever is a victim or villain alternates at any given moment. Granted, this makes for some black comedy, but more often than not the surprises were cringeworthy rather than shocking. 

I’m all for erotic thrillers that go to insane places. The Housemaid (2025) is a perfect example of a film striking the right balance between being funny, suspenseful, sexy, and ludicrous. Verity is not as good at juggling its various tones. There are too many moments that either don’t make any sense or are awkward in a bad way. The inclusion of two interviews that Verity has with the podcast Call Her Daddy and the YouTube show Hot Ones are clumsily managed. They felt like they were dropped in from another dimension. This has nothing to do with those real- life shows, but to pair them with a fictional character like Verity comes off as hollow and phony. These are two of the worst scenes of the whole film, so of course we would return to them repeatedly. 

Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett all know what kind of movie they are in and play their respective parts as such. Hathaway is the most locked in, playing Verity with a heightened state of being. We see her as a sultry, vibrant personality when she meets Jeremy, becomes lonely and unfulfilled once they start a family, then has a renewed sense of self once she discovers her talent in writing. In the wrong hands, Verity could come off as too hammy. Fortunately, Hathaway grounds her in a way that avoids being a straight up cartoon. In contrast, Johnson and Hartnett play Lowen and Jeremy fairly straightforward and earnest. Their dynamic unfolds a tad bit generically – at least at first. Maybe that’s the point. Both Lowen and Jeremy start out dull and bland, but we realize that is a set up for all the shenanigans that occur in the latter stages.

Verity promises a wicked good time. In reality, it only manages to provide it in small doses. When it plays things fast and loose, that is when the entertainment value is at its best. Unfortunately, the film is unable to maintain the momentum through its running time. This is a case of a story having peaks and valleys, where the high points are infrequent and the low points drag on for long stretches. It tries to make up for this with several twists and turns, but at a certain point the constant manipulation overstayed its welcome. This has some good things going for it, but you must dig through a lot of muck to get there.

Anne Hathaway, Brady Wagner, Call Her Daddy, Colleen Hoover, Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey, Hot Ones, Josh Hartnett, Michael Showalter, Nick Antosca, The Housemaid, Verity