Verity 2026 Review: More Hype Than Horror

Colleen Hoover’s fourth novel, Verity, just got a much-awaited film adaptation with a heavy, star-studded cast. Anne Hathaway is one of the cast members receiving the limelight this year, as this is her fifth film after Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, and The End of Oak Street. 2026 is officially Hathaway’s year.​

Our Verity 2026 review breaks down why the much-anticipated adaptation doesn’t quite deliver what was promised, with uneven performances, predictable twists, and an inconsistent balance of one.  ​

Plot details of Verity (2026)​

Based on the best-selling 2018 novel by Colleen Hoover, Verity is a psychological thriller about a struggling author, Lowen Asleigh (played by Dakota Johnson), who is hired as a ghostwriter by the husband (Josh Hartnett) of another best-selling author, his wife, Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway).​

Verity is injured in an accident and can’t finish her book, so Lowen is hired to help. But Lowen uncovers some dangerous truths about the family that make her question the truth of that place and Verity.​

Watch the trailer here:​

Actors’ performances in Verity (2026)​

Dakota Johnson’s Lowen seemed different from her past roles since her distant and struggling character demanded it, but somehow, Dakota did not feel convincing. Her emotional intensity felt lost somewhere, whereas Anne Hathaway, while most of the time remained silent throughout the film, felt more powerful. Hathaway’s presence and facial expression spoke a hundred words as compared to Johnson’s ‘so-called’ forceful portrayal.​

Dakota Johnson needs to move beyond relying on her sensual screen persona and embrace roles that demand greater emotional depth and range. Anne Hathaway, by contrast, brings a more compelling sense of complexity to Verity, showing how a strong performance can matter more than a character’s seductive appeal alone.​

The grieving and equally complex character of Josh Hartnett as Verity’s husband was interesting. He served as the emotional anchor of the film, though it felt like he was left out at times. However, depending on how Verity presented the truth in her writings, his character seemed to change, leaving us wanting to know what the actual truth was. Behind his grounded performance remained a charismatic manipulator—or perhaps that was simply how Verity wanted to portray him—which added to the twisted nature of the film.​

What do critics add to Verity 2026 review?

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes does not approve of the film much, as it says:​

“Possessing all the ingredients for a guilty pleasure, Verity leans more towards guilty than pleasurable due to plot twists that are more deflating than intriguing.” [Source]

Fans’ reaction​

Fans have a slightly different opinion about Verity, as they found the story full of exciting turns, and it was “worth the watch.” Some of the viewers praised both female leads equally despite the book’s changed storyline. They found the film slow in the beginning and the storyline a bit rushed, but overall, they found the film quite enjoyable.​

Is it worth watching?​

I have not read the book, which has received rave reviews, but I felt the film did not live up to the mark. The performances didn’t pull me in, and I think I had a preconceived image in my mind that the story would focus more on sexual scenes, given Dakota Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey history, rather than on its psychological twists.​

Among recent book-to-film adaptations, I enjoyed The Housemaid more than Verity, probably because I had read the book. But that again puts the film in a more difficult position to please the book readers on the same level, since obvious comparisons in the character arcs and storyline are inevitable.​

Here, I wasn’t hooked by the twist, and the story felt predictable at times. Yes, I was shocked by the letter Lowen found beneath the wooden floorboards, which forced me to question what was true and what wasn’t. The film feels like it invests more in generating provocative moments than in building genuine suspense. There is a disturbing story behind seduction; in fact, I found it more unsettling when Verity didn’t want children and what she could do to them to gain her husband’s attention back. The film never fully brings the darker side to the surface.​

The convenient revelations again didn’t care to balance the tone. The film deliberately introduces details too soon, which kills the suspense right there, not offering the audience much to ponder till the end. A suspense film like this often makes you reconsider what you have just seen and want to go back to the previous scene to digest the details correctly in order to make sense of the next parts of the film. Verity doesn’t do that. Mystery deepening was missing, which weakened the impact of the truth it eventually tries to uncover. Overall, though, the film felt like a drag.​

Michael Showalter previously directed romantic dramas, comedies, and biographical stories such as The Idea of You (2024), Spoiler Alert (2022), and The Big Sick (2017); this was his first time handling a psychological thriller, which could be the reason the film has its fair share of weaknesses. The emotional dynamics don’t always translate into genuine tension, which left the film caught between romantic melodrama and a psychological thriller.

What we liked

• Anne Hathaway’s commanding presence
• Josh Hartnett’s layered performance 
• The disturbing premise
• The letter beneath the floorboards

What could be better

• Dakota Johnson’s emotional depth
• More effective suspense
• A more consistent tone
• Stronger character development 
• Tighter pacing and execution 

Here is a detailed breakdown of our rating for Verity (2026):

Story/plot	7/10
Characters and acting	6/10
Direction and pacing	6/10
Visuals and cinematography	6/10
Soundtrack/score	5/10
Themes and message	4/10
Emotional impact	3/10
Creativity and originality	3/10
Rewatchability	2/10

Our rating: 4/10

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Is Verity (2026) available for streaming?

Amazon MGM Studios distributes Verity (2026) (R-rated) in theaters from October 2, 2026, onwards, and it is not available for streaming at the moment. 

Genre: Psychological thriller, crime, drama, mystery, romance 

IMDb rating: 6.0

Rotten Tomatoes: 31 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) and 71 percent on Popcornmeter (audience’s score)

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Brady Wagner, Asel Swango

Director: Michael Showalter

Writers: Colleen Hoover, Nick Antosca, Will Honley

Producers: Colleen Hoover, Michael Showalter, Nick Antosca, Alex Hedlund, Stacey Sher, Jordana Mollick, Anne Hathaway

Release date: October 2, 2026

Movie runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes