Verity 2026 Review

Introduction (Warning Contains Spoilers)

Verity arrives in cinemas as an adaptation of Colleen Hoover‘s bestselling 2018 novel. Directed by Michael Showalter, the film brings together Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett.

It is presented as a psychological and erotic thriller built around secrets, manipulation and unreliable perspectives.

The story follows Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson), a struggling writer who receives an unusual opportunity. She is hired to complete the remaining books in successful author Verity Crawford’s (Hathaway) series.

Verity has been left incapacitated following a serious accident. Lowen decides to join the Crawford family house where the writing can proceed.

In this place, Lowen comes across a very worrying manuscript revealing shocking revelations about Verity’s life.

From this point onwards, questions arise regarding the nature of truth, fiction, and manipulation. It must be noted that Verity was not really good for me.

However, there is a great psychological thriller contained in this movie. The challenge is that the script cannot connect all these concepts well.

Some parts of the dialogue seem like bad writing. There are several plot twists that seem hard to believe.

There are also enough plot holes to make the mystery worse than better. Obviously, the movie wants the viewers to question reality.

Also, it wants the viewers to question the truth of Verity’s story. Another interesting point concerns the question of writers.

How far would one go to write their next bestselling novel? Could writing about dark sides affect the writer himself or herself?

Or maybe Verity had an interest in darkness before she started to write about it? These are all good questions.

Unfortunately, the movie does not delve into them deeply enough. So, the movie is much more visually appealing than good to watch.

Direction

Michael Showalter takes Verity into darker territory than some of his better-known work. The film is filled with an unsettling atmosphere from the start.

The Crawford estate makes the perfect setting for the movie.

It is remote enough to make one feel vulnerable.

Lowen is being introduced to a world she knows nothing about.

This uncertainty is crucial to a psychological thriller.

But he is also aware of the significance of having the audience question everything they see.

There are instances where reality merges with imagination on purpose. This works with the theme of the film.

But the director cannot do much to fix the faults in the screenplay. There are scenes where the aim was shock value instead of suspense.

There are also instances where the film tries to be ambiguous without any reason.

That can work when the underlying story is carefully constructed. Here, some of the questions are created by inconsistencies rather than clever storytelling.

This makes the movie increasingly frustrating.

A good psychological thriller has to put your own beliefs into question.

Verity, at times, puts into question whether the film even knows what it is doing.

This is a very important aspect. It thus follows that the best scenes of the movie are the quiet ones.

When Lowen investigates the house, she learns something new, which makes the film better. The potential in the movie is very evident in the surrounding of the Crawford family.

The direction brings out enough fear for these aspects to become intriguing. Unfortunately, the screenplay constantly interferes.

Cinematography

The cinematography by Jim Frohna is certainly one of the best aspects of Verity. The film seems much more polished than its plot can at times seem.

The Crawford estate is particularly impressive. It gives the film a sense of seclusion and slightly dreamy atmosphere.

The landscapes around it help to create good contrast with the dark material of the film. This beauty is present around this very disturbing family situation.

This contrast works perfectly. The film uses its locations quite effectively. The interior of the estate helps to create the atmosphere too.

The rooms in it are always big and beautiful yet uncomfortable somehow. This contrast fits the plot perfectly.

The cinematography also helps in separating the moods of the film. Some scenes are warm and intimate. Other scenes become colder and more threatening.

The changing atmosphere supports the uncertainty surrounding Verity. This is where the film’s visual style sometimes feels more sophisticated than its screenplay.

There are moments when I found myself more interested in how the film looked than in what was happening.

That is not necessarily the result a thriller wants. However, it remains one of the movie’s clearest strengths.

If the screenplay had matched the visual quality, Verity could have been much more effective.

Themes and Storyline

The central theme of Verity is the uncertainty between truth and fiction.

Lowen is a writer. Verity is a writer. And that forms an interesting link between them.

They both realize the power of words.

They both realize the ability of stories to mislead people.

That makes finding the manuscript of Verity even more important for Lowen.

Lowen must make sure if she found the truth or just another fiction. The movie questions the possibility of writers getting carried away with their imaginary world.

Verity seems to be attracted to the dark side of human nature. Her writing is focused on the dark concepts of relationships, violence and obsession.

It leads to an interesting thought. Was it all the darkness that made Verity go further into it?

Or was it all the darkness which belonged to her nature from the beginning? The movie doesn’t provide an easy answer.

That would have been one of its greatest strengths.

However, at times, the screenplay tends to confuse ambiguity for complexity. The biggest issue is in the plot twist.

Without giving too much away, the final explanation is hard to believe. It requires quite a bit from the viewer to believe it.

In my view, the twist doesn’t really work based on what happened before. Instead of adding interest to those scenes, it raises even more questions.

There are also a few plot holes, which become progressively more obvious. There are moments when character actions don’t make sense.

Things happen just for the story to go in a certain direction. This makes the psychological aspect less effective.

A psychological thriller requires believable characters. Even when they do things that may seem disturbing.

Verity does not always achieve that. The erotic elements also create another complication.

The film wants attraction and danger to exist alongside one another. That fits the genre.

However, some of those scenes feel more functional than psychologically revealing. The relationship dynamics could have been explored with considerably more depth.

Instead, they sometimes feel like another mechanism for moving the plot forward.

Performances

The performances are mixed.

For me, Dakota Johnson is the weakest part of the central trio. Lowen should be a compelling character.

She is entering an increasingly disturbing situation while trying to work out who she can trust.

However, Johnson’s performance often feels wooden.

There are moments when the character should be frightened, suspicious or emotionally overwhelmed.

Instead, the performance can feel strangely detached.

That makes it harder to connect with Lowen. There is even one scene where Josh Harnett’s character asks if she is enjoying herself. She replies she is it’s just her face is always in a permanent bored expression.

This is just one of the examples where you find yourself questioning the writing.

Anne Hathaway fares considerably better. She brings more energy and personality to Verity.

Even when the material becomes difficult to accept, Hathaway commits to the role.

She understands that Verity needs an unsettling presence. There is also something deliberately theatrical about her performance.

That helps give the character a distinctive personality. For me, Hathaway is the strongest performer in the film.

Josh Hartnett is solid as Jeremy Crawford. The character needs to remain difficult to read.

Hartnett gives him enough charm to make Lowen’s attraction understandable. At the same time, there is enough uncertainty surrounding him to maintain some suspicion.

However, the writing limits what the actors can achieve. When dialogue feels unnatural, performances can only do so much.

That is particularly noticeable during some of the film’s more dramatic exchanges. The cast is capable of more than the screenplay gives them.

What Worked and What Did Not

The most powerful part of Verity is, without doubt, its visuals. The cinematography is beautiful all through.

The Crawford estate makes for great scenery. The settings create the isolation and the mood needed by the story.

Verity also has a very interesting theme. Whether Verity is a manipulative person, a mad writer or something else is an exciting theme.

The connection between fact and fiction is also something to explore. It is understood in the movie that a writer controls the way people see things.

This makes it a good basis for a psychological thriller. Unfortunately, its implementation fails the ideas.

The screenplay has poorly crafted dialogues. There are some conversations that sound unnatural.

There are also plot holes in the movie. Some decisions made by characters are hard to justify.

Even the twist is not well made. It is obviously meant to be smart, but it is hard to believe.

The movie also wants to raise questions in the mind of the audience. Such technique works very well in some movies.

Here, however, some of these questions are the result of incomplete story.

Dakota Johnson’s performance also makes it harder to become invested in Lowen. Anne Hathaway provides considerably more energy.

Josh Hartnett is effective enough, although his character remains limited by the script. The result is an uneven psychological thriller.

There are good ideas underneath it. There are also moments where the film creates genuine atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the screenplay repeatedly prevents those strengths from developing.

Overall Verdict

Verity is one of those movies that I wish I had liked much more. The concept itself has a lot of possibilities.

A writer enters an isolated house and uncovers some disturbing facts about another writer. This alone could be used to make a good psychological thriller movie.

The issues of truth, fiction and manipulation are also intriguing. Moreover, this movie even poses the questions related to dark themes used by writers.

Nevertheless, intriguing concepts are not enough on their own. The screenwriting has to make those concepts credible.

Unfortunately, this is where Verity fails. The plot has too many plot holes. Some lines sound bad. The main twist is hard to believe.

Sometimes the attempt to be ambiguous turns into something incomprehensible and even stupid. Furthermore, the acting is inconsistent as well.

Dakota Johnson looks too stiff for the main character. Anne Hathaway delivers the best performance.

However, the cinematography is where the film actually excels. It looks great.

The locations are pretty and atmospheric. Crawford Estate is perfect for such a story.

There are some scenes that create more suspense visually than via the script. It is both a praise and criticism.

Ultimately, Verity can be seen as a movie with great concepts, but poor execution. It wants us to doubt reality. It wants us to figure out who the actual villain is.

It wants us to find out if Verity created darkness via her writing or just revealed it. These are interesting issues to discuss.

They are just not discussed well enough. At least in my opinion. Verity is an interesting, but disappointing psychological thriller.

It has all elements required for a good thriller – an interesting concept, an excellent location and a brilliant performance from Anne Hathaway.

Unfortunately, poor screenplay, many holes in the plot and dubious twist prevent it from being a great thriller.

There is also some disappointment here because Verity follows another Colleen Hoover adaptation.

Reminders of Him was surprisingly good for me and showed that Hoover’s work could translate effectively to film. You can check out my review of Reminders of him here

It was not perfect, but it had enough emotional weight and strong performances to make the adaptation work. The film has a more intriguing and darker premise, but the execution is considerably weaker.

Another Disappointing Movie For October

October has therefore been a frustrating month for cinema so far.

After my disappointment with Digger, Verity continues what has been an underwhelming run of films for me.

That is particularly frustrating because both films had interesting ideas and talented people behind them.

In Verity, the potential is especially obvious.

The psychological questions are there, the setting looks excellent and Anne Hathaway gives the material everything she can.

Unfortunately, the screenplay does not provide a strong enough foundation.

The result is another film that leaves me feeling that it could have been considerably better.