Based on Colleen Hoover’s infamous novel, Verity follows Lowen (Dakota Johnson), a struggling author who is offered to ghost write for Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), a world-renowned writer. The dream job opportunity quickly becomes complicated as Lowen discovers shocking revelations about the Crawford family and treads the line between love, fascination, and horror.
Verity, at its core, is entertaining. Thriller beats are hit and tension is built with reasonable success. However, in comparison to a markedly similar thriller in the The Housemaid starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, Verity is mediocre in almost every aspect as an erotic thriller.
Although both produce bland performances, Sydney Sweeney conveys far more allure in The Housemaid than Dakota Johnson can muster in Verity. In a similar vein, Josh Hartnett falls flat as Jeremy Crawford, husband of Verity, where Brandon Sklenar brings an effortless charm which makes the twist vivid for those who haven’t read the book. Seyfried and Hathaway are evenly matched however, with Hathaway bringing a vitality to Verity which was sorely lacking in the first act.
Constrained by the book, Showalter struggles to translate the ‘erotic’ element of the erotic thriller on to screen, with the deluge of sex scenes appearing unnecessary without sufficient context. Similar issues can be found with necessary details of Lowen’s inner thoughts, with voice-over being used to ‘tell not show’.
Ultimately, unlike The Housemaid, Verity is not ‘in on the joke’ of its own unseriousness enough to create a rounded film considering the fantastical nature of the material. While temporarily engaging, the Hathaway-produced title is destined to sit on the shelf of Prime Video to be watched in lieu of anything else to do.
“2025 Dakota Johnson (cropped)” by Quejaytee is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
