Comedy, iconic one-liners, and of course, fashion—The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) had a lot to deliver to live up to its predecessor. And did it? I’ll be the first to say that while this movie is nowhere near as good as the 2006 classic, it was entertaining nostalgia-bait that I gladly fell for.
I can’t deny it was great to see the familiar cast back on the big screen. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt fall back into their characters seamlessly. The new cast members, in particular Simone Ashley and Caleb Hearon, also bring some Gen-Z energy that the movie clearly aimed to incorporate to attract younger audiences.
The movie also features important themes in the fashion and publishing worlds, tackling the ongoing digitisation of print journalism somewhat realistically, as well as the fashion industry’s slow but gradual embrace of different body types.
This is not to say the movie didn’t have its faults. As a die-hard fan of the original, I was disappointed by the characterisation of Miranda (Meryl Streep) and Andy (Anne Hathaway). In the first movie, Miranda is, as the title suggests, a ‘devil.’ In the sequel, however, she becomes a softened version of herself, whose authority is constantly undermined. In the original, she is a perfectionist who’s not afraid to make scathing remarks—these comments are some of the movie’s most iconic lines. In the sequel, we don’t get these snarky one-liners. I was struck by a scene in which Miranda continuously turns to her assistant (Simone Ashley) to check whether she’s allowed to say certain things. I understand the movie wants to adapt to the times, but this takes away from the harsh, truly devil-like character that Meryl Streep embodied so well in the original.
Another gripe I had was with Andy. Given that she is a well-established journalist, you would expect her to have grown in confidence. However, in her interactions with Miranda, she still stammers and awkwardly seeks approval; it’s almost as if all her character development in the first movie never happened. I also found it unrealistic that Miranda seems to have no idea who Andy is. The first movie established both a mutual respect and a genuine connection at the end. Dismissing these aspects disregards the original material and its characters’ relationships.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: the fashion. While the first movie consistently served iconic looks that immersed viewers in the fashion industry, the sequel had characters looking like they’d stepped out of an H&M fitting room.
Finally, a quick word about the most unnecessary on-screen romance of all time—why is Hollywood terrified of letting female leads be single? Andy’s love interest was so insignificant I forgot his name the second he introduced himself. Their romance simply added nothing to the plot. Would it really be so bad if, God forbid, Andy remained single throughout the film? Despite all this, I’d still recommend the movie. I had a good time re-entering the world of Runway, and it definitely got a few laughs out of me.
Photo by Lee Jeong-woo on Openverse