Verity Review: Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson Elevate a Twisted Thriller

Verity Review finds Michael Showalter's adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel entering familiar psychological-thriller territory with an intriguing question: what happens when the story you discover inside a house may be more dangerous than the people living there?

Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is hired to complete the bestselling book series of Verity Crawford, played by Anne Hathaway. Verity has been left unable to communicate after an accident, leaving Lowen to sort through her unfinished work at the Crawford family home.

Instead of finding ordinary notes and drafts, Lowen discovers a disturbing manuscript describing the family's private life, including unsettling details about Verity's children, her marriage to Jeremy and events that could completely change how she views the household.

The manuscript becomes the film's biggest source of suspense because it gives Verity a voice even though she cannot physically speak.

Anne Hathaway brings ambiguity

Hathaway's performance is one of the film's major strengths. Verity rarely needs lengthy dialogue to control a scene. A look, a pause or a small change in expression is enough to make Lowen — and the audience — question what she might know.

The film also creates two versions of Verity. There is the woman Lowen sees inside the house and the far more provocative, cruel and sexually liberated woman described in the manuscript.

That contrast creates one of the movie's most interesting questions: is the manuscript an honest confession or simply another piece of fiction?

Johnson's Lowen works as the audience's entry point into that uncertainty. But she is not a completely innocent observer. As a writer herself, she understands how powerful a story can be. She interprets what she discovers, fills in gaps and gradually becomes emotionally involved in the mystery.

Her growing attraction to Jeremy further complicates her judgement.

A glossy thriller with a pulpy side

The film occasionally moves away from its more interesting psychological questions and embraces the familiar ingredients of an erotic thriller: an expensive house, forbidden attraction, suspicious glances, secrets and revelations arriving at convenient moments.

That pulpy quality is not necessarily a weakness. In fact, the movie is often more entertaining when it acknowledges its heightened tone rather than attempting to present every twist as a devastating psychological revelation.

The Crawford home also plays an important role. Its luxurious but cold atmosphere gradually becomes an extension of Lowen's uncertainty. Quiet rooms, closed doors and hidden spaces add to the feeling that something is constantly being concealed.

However, the screenplay sometimes confuses new information with genuine suspense. Several revelations are designed mainly to keep the mystery moving, without adding enough emotional depth to the characters.

Josh Hartnett's Jeremy is particularly affected by this. He is simultaneously presented as a grieving husband, romantic interest and potential suspect, but the character does not receive enough development to make all those sides equally convincing.

The women carry the mystery

The film becomes more compelling whenever it focuses on Lowen and Verity rather than the mystery mechanics.

Lowen is curious, impulsive and occasionally selfish. Her attraction to Jeremy affects her judgement, while her fascination with Verity gradually becomes difficult to separate from obsession.

Johnson keeps that uncertainty grounded without turning Lowen into a conventional thriller heroine.

Hathaway, meanwhile, appears comfortable with the film's melodramatic side. She brings menace and theatricality to Verity without turning the character into a straightforward villain.

The movie also raises questions about women, authorship and who gets control over a narrative. Who gets believed? Who has the authority to define a marriage? And how easily can a woman become a villain simply because someone else controls the story being told about her?

These questions are more interesting than some of the twists themselves.

Ultimately, Verity works best as a glossy, sensual and deliberately pulpy thriller rather than as a completely grounded psychological drama. There is a sharper film hidden underneath its secrets — one concerned with storytelling, grief, desire and the power of written words.

Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson make the journey worthwhile, giving the material more depth and ambiguity than the screenplay sometimes provides. Instead of simply asking audiences to discover who is telling the truth, the film raises a more interesting question: why are we so eager to believe one version of the story?

Verity releases in India on October 2, 2026.