Verity (film)

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Lowen Ashleigh, a published author living in New York City, grieves her mother's death from cancer while struggling to find a wider audience for her work. She is approached by a publisher looking for someone to help one of their bestselling authors finish a popular novel series. The author, Verity Crawford, known for writing novels from the perspectives of immoral villains, has been left catatonic after a near-fatal car accident, a fact hidden from the media to prevent fans from thinking the series is over. Verity's husband Jeremy is mourning the recent drowning of their young daughter, Harper, from a canoeing accident. He assures Lowen she will be the best candidate for the job, as Verity has read her work and enjoyed it.

Lowen accepts the job and moves in with Jeremy, Verity, and Harper's twin brother Crew in their lakeside Vermont home. Verity's office is in the house, allowing Lowen to immerse herself in Verity's copious notes to help her plan the next novel in the series. Lowen discovers an unfinished manuscript of Verity's autobiography, in which Verity describes her infatuation with Jeremy and eventual resentment toward her children, whom she viewed as competition for his love and attention. Disgusted and horrified, Lowen abandons the manuscript halfway through reading it. Despite Verity's inability to move or speak, Lowen starts to notice Verity looking at her when no one else can see, though she is unsure if these experiences are mere hallucinations.

Lowen successfully plans the next novel and prepares to begin writing it. Mutual affection grows between her and Jeremy, and they begin an affair. Jeremy confesses that though Verity never read Lowen's book, he did, and felt a deep connection to her, but lied because he thought the validation would mean more coming from Verity. Lowen revisits Verity's autobiography, and is horrified to discover a confession that Verity intentionally capsized the canoe in an attempt to drown her children and thus reclaim Jeremy's devotion; their son Crew only survived because of his ability to swim. The manuscript ends with a declaration that Verity plans to commit vehicular suicide to escape legal consequences for her actions. Lowen confronts Verity, threatening to expose her to the police and take Verity's family and career for herself.

Lowen asks Crew about Harper's death; he refuses to answer, but implies that Verity speaks to him, despite her supposed catatonia. She confides her findings to Jeremy. He angrily confronts Verity, who fearfully admits to faking her catatonia. He begins to strangle her, but Lowen implores him to stop and suggests that he suffocate her instead to make her death look like an accident. After he kills her, they dump her body in the lake and convince police that she must have woken up from her catatonia, left the house in confusion, and accidentally drowned.

Seven months later, Lowen has published the next novel in Verity's series and is pregnant with Jeremy's daughter. As they prepare to move out of the house, Lowen discovers a handwritten letter from Verity, addressed to Jeremy in the event that she and Crew left him. The letter promises that the autobiography was merely a writing exercise to help her process her grief; she never resented her children, Harper's death was truly an accident, and she was not actually suicidal. It also reveals that Jeremy discovered the manuscript, believed it to be true, drugged Verity, and put her in her car with a brick on the accelerator in an attempt to kill her and make it look like a suicide. She survived, but faked catatonia for fear that he would report her to police or kill her if he thought she was capable of telling anyone what he did. Lowen decides not to tell Jeremy about the letter and continue her new life with Jeremy, Crew, and her daughter, no longer sure whether to believe Verity or Jeremy's account of what happened.

• Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford, a bestselling author
• Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh, a writer
• Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford, Verity's husband
• Ismael Cruz Córdova as Corey, Lowen's agent
• Brady Wagner as Crew Crawford, Verity and Jeremy's son
• Irina Dvorovenko as Anna, Verity's nurse
• K. K. Moggie as Amanda, who works for Verity's publisher
• Michael Abbott Jr. as a Vermont police officer

Alex Cooper and Sean Evans appear as themselves, in Verity's fictional appearances on Call Her Daddy and Hot Ones, respectively.

A film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's 2018 novel Verity was being developed by Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund, and Eat the Cat. They had hired April Maguire and Will Honley to write the screenplay before November 2020 for the then-named Amazon MGM Studios.^[5] In May 2024, Hilary Seitz was hired to rewrite the film's screenplay.^[6] After additional draft work from Angela LaManna, Antosca was finalizing the screenplay himself in November 2024 when Michael Showalter had signed on to direct the film and Anne Hathaway agreed to lead the film as Verity Crawford.^[7] The next month, Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson joined the cast for the film.^[8] In February 2025, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Brady Wagner, Irina Dvorovenko, K. K. Moggie, and Michael Abbott Jr. were cast in undisclosed roles.^[9]

Principal photography began in February 2025,^[10] with Hathaway and Hartnett shooting on location in New York City.^[11] Johnson began shooting her scenes by the following month.^[12] Production concluded in April 2025.^{[citation needed]}

An alternate twist ending—the film's initial ending—was shot and included Johnson putting on shades, rolling down the window of the car and making waves with her hand (alluding to the audience that she is the master manipulator) before cutting to Hathaway's sinking body wherein she abruptly opens her eyes, indicating she is alive. However, test audiences were not satisfied by this ending, so it was cut.^[13]

Volker Bertelmann composed the score for the film.^[14] The soundtrack album will be released through Lakeshore Records on October 2, 2026, the same day as the film.^[15]

Commercial songs that were featured in the film, but not included in the soundtrack album:^[16]

• "Girl Feels Good" – FKA Twigs
• "Close But Not Quite " – Curtis Mayfield
• "Family and Friends" – Oklou
• "Body and Soul" – Benny Goodman
• "Sugar! Honey! Love!" – Kali Uchis
• "Hymne A L'Amour" – Lorenzo Bernardi
• "Få En Gave" – Alle
• "Back to Me" – The Marías

Verity had its world premiere at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema in London on September 24, 2026, and was released in the United States and Canada on October 2, 2026, by Amazon MGM Studios.^[17][18] and by Sony Pictures Releasing International on that same date.^[19] It was originally set to be released on May 15, 2026.^[20] The film will be screened in the Gala section of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 29, 2026.^[21]

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Box office

As of October 5, 2026, Verity has grossed $34 million in the United States and Canada and $30 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $64 million.^[3][4]

In the United States and Canada, Verity made $14.5 million on its first day, including $4.5 million from Thursday night previews.^[22] It went on to debut at $32.6 million, topping the box office.^[23]

Critical response

Verity received mixed reviews from critics.^[24][25] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 34% of 149 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10.^[26] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[27] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while 50% of those surveyed by PostTrak said they would definitely recommend the film.^[22]

RogerEbert.com's Matt Zoller Seitz gave the film three out of four stars, and wrote, "it’s wickedly playful, and it gives its central performers plenty of chances to show off their technique and build their movie-star personas."^[28] Larushka Ivan-Zadeh of Time Out gave the film three out of five stars, praising its combination of erotic thriller elements, dark humor, and deliberately excessive melodrama. Ivan-Zadeh highlighted Johnson's return to the sensual thriller style associated with Fifty Shades of Grey, as well as Showalter's ability to balance the film's darker subject matter with a playful, self-aware tone. She also praised the performances and described the film as a "wild and fun ride", while criticizing its excessive twists and lengthy reveal.^[29] Odie Henderson of The Boston Globe gave the film two and a half out of five stars, describing it as a "shockingly watchable" adaptation of Hoover's novel. He praised Hathaway's performance as the manipulative Verity, arguing that her scenes were more compelling than Johnson's, and noted Hartnett's humorous portrayal of Jeremy. Henderson also felt that the film would appeal to fans of the novel, although he criticized its slow pace and lengthy runtime.^[30]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film a negative review, praising its premise and opening sequence but arguing that the story gradually loses its effectiveness. Bradshaw noted the film's potentially entertaining combination of erotic mystery, gothic influences, and psychological suspense, but criticized the disappearance of supporting characters, the increasingly implausible plot, and the final act. He argued that the film's narrative ultimately "disintegrates" into an unsatisfying series of plot developments and described its resolution as unconvincing and inadequately ambiguous.^[31] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent criticized the film as a derivative and less entertaining version of The Housemaid, arguing that it closely resembles the earlier thriller while failing to generate the same level of excitement. Loughrey criticized the film's forced chemistry, glossy presentation, and reliance on familiar domestic-thriller conventions, while also arguing that Johnson and Hathaway were not given material strong enough to elevate the adaptation. She ultimately described the film as an example of a potentially compelling thriller being weakened by its execution and lack of originality.^[32]