When a famed author can’t finish her book series, her husband hires a struggling writer to help finish it. But while prepping for the book, she uncovers a dark web of deceit, misdeeds, and unshakeable revelations. Based on the Colleen Hoover novel, Verity is an alluring premise with an intimate cast, and sure, it’s zany at times. Unfortunately, it crumbles under the weight of bad storytelling and a frigid attempt at being an erotic thriller.
Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a bestselling novelist with a successful series, but after a tragic accident, she is left catatonic, unable to finish her next few books. With her condition hidden from the press, her husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett) hires a writer named Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to step in as a ghost writer.
Lowen temporarily moves in with the Crawfords to research Verity’s notes and get into the mind of the acclaimed writer. But when she finds Verity’s personal writings, she discovers a darkness and perhaps the truth of what’s actually plaguing Verity — all while an illicit affair begins with Jeremy.
To put it kindly, Verity is a Lifetime original movie with an A-list cast. It’s messy, bewildering, and struggling through a variety of issues, and maybe that’s expected from a Hoover adaptation. For me, it became more and more painful to sit through.
It’s trying so desperately to be a psychological thriller with elements of an erotic thriller, and at times it almost succeeds. It’s aching to tell the most titillating story, and I will give it credit for pulling you into this entangled web. But this web is so haphazardly woven that the story is flat and the characters and their motives feel like a complete afterthought.
Without mentioning spoilers, Verity is the only character whose persona feels fully thought out. The audience is supposed to have a very polarizing take on her, and we never fully get to know who she truly is, which Hathaway devours. She takes this character and molds her into an enigma. Her work is a real highlight, although I wish we got more.
She has amazing chemistry with Hartnett, and especially as we dive into Verity and Jeremy’s relationship, we see this fire between them. While not always in the healthiest of ways. But that’s also where the film does a disservice to Jeremy because he feels, again, so aimlessly crafted; it’s frustrating to get a read on who he is, at no fault to Hartnett’s performance, though.
The biggest disappointment is Lowen, presented by the most lifeless performance from Johnson. It’s a character who feels bored to be there. So much so there’s a line written about the character having a “resting bored face”, which feels specifically written to excuse the poor acting. But she’s also a character we learn almost nothing about. And it felt like there was so much about her that was left out. There’s also just nothing alluring or likable about her, and when you add this Hand That Rocks the Cradle element to her, it just seems so ridiculous.
There is an aspect of the story I did enjoy: an autobiographical manuscript Verity wrote before her accident. It reveals so much to Lowen and the audience. And much of it is in relation to an incident where Verity and Jeremy’s daughter drowned in the lake behind their house. There are inconsistencies with this, but that being the focal mystery of whether it was truly an accident was compelling.
But much of that is then undercut by this attraction between Jeremy and Lowen. Which I suppose is meant to take the film into the erotic thriller territory; it’s meant to be seductive, but it feels so lukewarm. It’s puzzling and awkward, but even more confounding in the third act, which is filled with twists and reveals that feel so baseless. It’s honestly baffling how we got to the point where this film goes, but I suppose that’s Hoover’s style.
Is Verity fun in some moments? Sure. But it is messy. And perhaps that’s what readers loved about the original book. When you begin to think about things characters say and how the pieces of the puzzle fit together, it all falls apart.
The film’s tagline is, “There is no light where we’re going,” which I agree with because this film is a dark abyss of tragic decisions. A bit of a slog to sit through and lacking in so many ways.
Verity is in theaters October 2
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