Official Discussion - Verity [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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Verity

Summary

Lowen Ashleigh gets hired by Jeremy Crawford to ghostwrite novels for his bestselling author wife Verity, who's unable to finish after an accident. Lowen uncovers Verity's disturbing truths while residing at the Crawfords' home to work. After discovering what appears to be Verity's autobiographical notes, Lowen wrestles with the confessions about Verity's husband and finds it hard to separate fiction from reality.

Director Michael Showalter

Writer Nick Antosca Colleen Hoover Will Honley

Cast

• Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford
• Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh
• Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford
• Ismael Cruz Cordova as Corey
• Brady Wagner as Crew Crawford

Rotten Tomatoes: 43%

Metacritic: TBD

VOD / Release In theaters — October 2, 2026

Trailer Official Trailer

[u/ishmael_king93]

Ruining your marriage and dying because you didn’t tell your husband it was opposite day

[u/Ok-Doctor3103 → u/ishmael_king93]

"Let me explain" could've easily be "It was fake!" or "it was a writing exercise!".

[u/yeahright17 → u/Ok-Doctor3103]

If he didn't pause to let her explain, I don't think he would have paused after either of those.

[u/YesicaChastain → u/Ok-Doctor3103]

Why she couldn’t do that before in front of the nurses/doctors idk

[u/RetroDadOnReddit → u/Ok-Doctor3103]

Not to mention, she also could have at least tried to speak to him about it anytime between:

1. Him initially discovering the writing on the computer
   
2. The moment she later realized that he thought it was real.

Like why would you just let your husband think that and not clarify? Fucking stupid.

I'm of the opinion that she wrote that handwritten note as a sort of "CYA" if he ever went to the cops, but that her manuscript was the truth.

[u/ICUMF1962]

Ending it on the Hot Ones clip was certainly a choice

[u/SparkG → u/ICUMF1962]

I laughed out loud when the Hot Ones clip showed up, next few minutes were awkward because I was the only one who reacted that way.

[u/giggles_smiles2 → u/ICUMF1962]

and the Call Her Daddy clip(s)

[u/twizzwhizz11 → u/giggles_smiles2]

I’m convinced but the way the CHD clips were shot that they didn’t actually shoot together (the Hot Ones there were a few shots of Anne and Sean together, but all the CHD ones were either of Alex or Anne).

[u/Paggy_person → u/ICUMF1962]

It should've shown her tearing up from superhot wings too lol, not sure why they pick Hot Ones just to show her talking normally.
It could've been made up podcast/interview or going to big TV shows Jimmy Fallon.

[u/nunu135 → u/Paggy_person]

The opening shot was an interview at their house, it fit the tone much better and would've given the begging and ending some symmetry, the hot one clip at the end is just so out of place lmao

[u/nunu135 → u/ICUMF1962]

I was so fucking confused. Specially because the film starts with an interview that seems much more serious in tone (I think with one of the today show women?) that would've made a lot more sense for them to use for the ending

[u/Johnny_Holiday]

What happened to the nurse? I feel like she was such a key element with the ending that they realized if she were around, the ending can't make sense no matter what. Either the nurse was in on it with Verity and she would tell the police the whole plot and that she had to have been murdered or the nurse had no idea that Verity was faking it and would have told the police she has no idea how she got to the dock on her own. Which would lead the police to think murder.

On top of that, once the body was found, and autopsy would determine there was no water in the lungs. It would have made more sense to put her back in the chair and the doctors could assume she just stopped breathing. The fact she was found in the water would cause more problems.

[u/2mock2turtle → u/Johnny_Holiday]

The body disposal was when I about gave up the willing suspension of disbelief. Like come on.

[u/dean15892 → u/2mock2turtle]

why would you

1. Fake a murder for someone who is catatonic and then

2. Immediately follow that with a scene of dumping her in the lake?

Like... just... put her back where you found her, and say she passed in her sleep ?

Neither is believable, but the fact that she suddenly got out of her catatonic state, and WALKED to the lake, IN the rain and then jumped in ??!

Does anyone not realize that if you "supposedly" haven't moved your body in months, you can't just get up and walk!?
And she did that during a thunderstorm ?

[u/Timely_Future4163 → u/dean15892]

I threw my arms up when the we’re dumping her in the lake because it made no sense. That son is going to need so much therapy some day and possibly needs to report both his parents for murder.

[u/KlutzyInteraction951 → u/dean15892]

Also, why suffocate her if you are dumping her in the lake, if she "drowned" her lungs would be filled with water... If you are dead when entering the water you won't aspirate water, there so many little things that clearly weren't properly researched. And police deeming it a suicide when clearly the evidence points to the opposite 🙄 I didn't hate the movie but the whole time I was thinking, this is wrong, oh what a cliché, is she okay? Oh please as if any of this could ever happen...

[u/alleymind → u/dean15892]

The thing is no one knew she was catatonic except a select few people. To the world she was just Verity, hence the cop asking asking if they were working on her book together. It makes sense. Her daughter died there, so just looks like a grieving mother’s suicide.

[u/ThrowAway111222555 → u/alleymind]

Only if the cops don't talk to the nurse or verify the medical records

[u/JazzDynamite1 → u/alleymind]

The husband told the cops she was though so they did know they just suck

[u/OftenSilentObserver → u/2mock2turtle]

Then, magically, the two of them are together. No possible motive there....

[u/paigesven98 → u/2mock2turtle]

Yessss! I immediately googled if that happened in the book, because I read it so long ago that I forgot exactly how the ending played out. I was glad it was different because I would’ve been upset with myself for liking the book of that was the ending 😂😂 The idea that someone EVERYONE knew was mentally incapable of movement somehow got to the lake without her chair or assistance is psychotic to me 😂😂

[u/robynhood96 → u/Johnny_Holiday]

Well in the book they don’t throw her in the lake lol

[u/Hello-there2021 → u/robynhood96]

Why change it then it was so like off throwing

[u/Sam_Strake → u/Johnny_Holiday]

Small town cops doing everything they possibly can to convince themselves a clear murder is an accident is actually the most realistic part of this movie lol

[u/dean15892 → u/Sam_Strake]

Reminds me of Hot Fuzz lol

"So you're saying... this wasn't an accident? "

[u/CCBT108 → u/Johnny_Holiday]

YES!! That’s what I thought- why bother with the fake drowning that could easily be disproved at autopsy? Just put her back in the chair!!!

[u/yeahright17 → u/Johnny_Holiday]

Also, there would have been clear bruising her her neck even if he let go.

[u/ScrewedUp4Life → u/yeahright17]

Not to mention they would see she died of asphyxiation. While not always foul play, it would definitely look suspicious. Especially with hubby immediately hooking up with and impregnating the live in hot ghost writer. Just a little suspicious right?

[u/DraperPenPals → u/yeahright17]

And broken blood vessels on/in her nose after he held it shut to suffocate her

[u/smarties07 → u/Johnny_Holiday]

She also could have escapes while Jeremy was on the trip to meet with the publisher. Could have given the nurse money to stay quiet or smth

[u/ScrewedUp4Life → u/Johnny_Holiday]

Exactly. How could a trained, experienced nurse not know she was faking it?

[u/dean15892 → u/ScrewedUp4Life]

In all fairness, Anne Hathaway was a good actress lol

/s

[u/ScrewedUp4Life → u/dean15892]

Fair point. And she was very good at tolerating a tac prick without flinching.

[u/dean15892 → u/ScrewedUp4Life]

I mean.... ngl... i flinched

[u/UpliftinglyStrong → u/ScrewedUp4Life]

if I was Lowen I would’ve just slapped her until she reacted.

[u/No_Idea_Guy]

One of the laziest twists I've seen. The movie simply presents the twist without attempting to sell it. It's just...there, with the convenient excuse that "we don't know which one is the truth anyway."

The Housemaid was dumb fun. This one was just dumb.

[u/Former-Leopard4605 → u/[deleted]]

I thought the twist will be that the husband wrote the manuscrit 

[u/maxmouze → u/Former-Leopard4605]

I watched the whole movie thinking he wrote it and planted it for Lowen to find, to the point I didn't even consider she wrote it. The whole film was just confusing to me because it made no sense she'd lose her daughter in an accident and think it was a good idea to deal with her grief as a writing exercise where she confesses she always hated her and wanted her dead. And then her husband kills her over it and she never says "No, it was a writing exercise"? Or whatever happened; I don't even remember how she ended up in the hospital.

[u/TheParrott88 → u/[deleted]]

Dakota Fanning is not in this movie…

[u/UpliftinglyStrong → u/No_Idea_Guy]

That’s how it was in the book.

It was done equally terribly there as well.

[u/Chanel1202 → u/UpliftinglyStrong]

If the movie included the novel’s epilogue, the movie would have had a more definitive ending.

[u/Ok-Plan7204]

I dont get it. If Verity was waiting for her chance to escape and was afraid of her husband, why didn't see reveal herself to Lowen when it was just them in the house alone.

[u/yeahright17 → u/Ok-Plan7204]

First thing I said to my wife when we got out of the movie. Second was why did Lowen giving him a manuscript he'd already seen make him all of a sudden believe she wasn't incapacitated. Third was when did Lowen become someone that encourages murder.

[u/BornAmbassador01 → u/yeahright17]

"why did Lowen giving him a manuscript he'd already seen make him all of a sudden believe she wasn't incapacitated" - My take is that he saw this an another opportunity to kill her with justification from Lowen this time. So he acted shocked as a performance for Lowen because he already knew she would be watching on the camera that he called her out for just minutes before.

[u/robynhood96 → u/BornAmbassador01]

In the book, he doesn’t act shocked. He’s more neutral and immediately asks “where did you get this?”

[u/Fredidiah → u/BornAmbassador01]

Doesn’t really work for me since Verity is like “let me explain”.

If the second “truth” is true, then I get why he’s manipulating Lowen, but why would Verity be needlessly acting just to him; he already heard her explanation before.

If the first truth is true, then the behavior of everyone makes sense.

(Possibly thinking about this wrong because the twist itself seems kinda poorly executed in the movie)

[u/Chanel1202 → u/Fredidiah]

If the manuscript is true, Verity faking her illness makes zero sense.

[u/Fredidiah → u/Chanel1202]

I think it was because she wasn't recovered enough to get away from him with him there all the time. But...as mentioned elsewhere in the thread, he did go to NY for at least 24 hours.

[u/DraperPenPals → u/yeahright17]

We are supposed to feel that Lowen is transforming into Verity and that includes the capacity for homicide.

I do not believe the movie actually pulled this off, though.

[u/robynhood96 → u/DraperPenPals]

In the book, no. The manuscript is so much more fucked up that it makes a little sense why Lowen would think she deserves to die. In the movie, I didn’t feel the same motive. I was disgusted reading the book.

[u/Wise_Development_775 → u/robynhood96]

yeah they sanitized it so bad. I was disappointed that they completely skipped over the wire hanger abortion attempt, like they didn’t even ALLUDE to it!

[u/Able_Comparison_4651 → u/Wise_Development_775]

yes!! i was confused too bc they gave Harper the scar but just…. went nowhere with it??? and they completely forgot ab Chastin in the movie??? they didn’t mention her death once or the favouritism verity had for Crew. the movie was a mess, they removed too much that the final escalation makes no sense

[u/FangOfDrknss → u/DraperPenPals]

The problem is, in the “now with a jaw dropping epilogue” edition, she’s paranoid about being a liability from what I skimmed of it. If it was her decision in both book and movie, then why is a killer paranoid about another killer?

[u/SoulofWakanda → u/Ok-Plan7204]

Why is she casually leaving story exercises about murdering her daughter around the house for her husband or anyone else to read? If she could move and talk the whole time why not just explain the situation to Lowen when you get the chance? Or your nurse, who is conveniently always gone when the story needs her to be?

[u/Joey-WilcoXXX → u/SoulofWakanda]

It’s dumb but as she says, he didn’t like to read her work. Sucks that the one time he does is when she’s writing fiction about their lives like it’s real.

[u/xlachiex → u/SoulofWakanda]

In the book there’s only a printed version of the manuscript that Verity knows exists, but she doesn’t know where it is. There’s chapters where Lowden notices things have moved in the home’s basement and it’s because Verity is trying to find and destroy the manuscript (which is revealed in the letter). All this is cut from the movie.

[u/hereforthetalk97 → u/Ok-Plan7204]

why didnt she leave when they were out on a date for the birthday 😂

[u/catsinabasket → u/Ok-Plan7204]

because colleen hoover is a very bad writer lol like how do you lead up to such a big thing and not cover obvious plot holes 😀

[u/FangOfDrknss → u/Ok-Plan7204]

Exactly. Made no sense to keep up the act. At least with The Housemaid, she wanted someone to take her place before her daughter made her feel bad about it.

[u/Sam_Strake → u/Ok-Plan7204]

Also who lets their kids grow up on a lake and doesn't teach them how to swim or buy life jackets but also owns and frequently uses a goddamn canoe. Getting a canoe to NOT flip over with 3 people, 2 of them children, in it is a goddamn miracle lol

[u/twavisdegwet → u/Ok-Plan7204]

We saw the nurse putting something in her drink at some point. I'd like to think she was in on it. Verity was pretending 10% of the time while she was in a drug induced stupor the other times. When Josh confronted her the nurse was away on PTO so she was faking it the entire time.

That's all plausible but you really gotta punch in for this movie if you want to make sense of it. Better to just have it wash over you.

[u/Wise_Development_775 → u/twavisdegwet]

The nurse is pretty irrelevant in the book. I think she was just meant to be a nosy character who suspected them of hooking up behind Verity’s back

[u/notnijiatall]

Not saying you witnessed an accident is crazy lmao that meeting should’ve been rescheduled

[u/Nafepaints → u/notnijiatall]

Why did she put the WHITE shirt on whilst she was still covered in blood too?

[u/notnijiatall → u/Nafepaints]

That whole situation pissed me off, it’s not like you overslept, you just saw someone get killed and crushed in front of you spraying you with blood??

[u/wi5hbone → u/notnijiatall]

All of that was left in because it matches dakota’s resting bored face and acting / inability to be phased from a man dying in front of her.

[u/filthy-_-casual → u/wi5hbone]

I laughed so hard when she said in the restaurant she has a resting bored face. Would have been even better if she then looked into the camera and winked

[u/Grizzled_Ghost]

Why did Verity's nurse act like Lowen was another caretaker? At 2 points on the film she tells Loren she's leaving and gives her an update on Verity's current condition, and in both cases Lowen seems confused as to why she's being told this.

I thought it was going to be revealed Lowen wasn't really an author at all but instead another nurse living a delusion, but it's never addressed. Is this explained in the book?

Is it also explained why they decided to pretend that the comatose person got up, walked outside, and drowned herself (which an autopsy would disprove) when they could've just claimed the braindead woman stopped breathing overnight, as can happen?

[u/Joey-WilcoXXX → u/Grizzled_Ghost]

>when they could’ve just claimed the braindead woman stopped breathing overnight

That’s what the book did. Idk why they added the drowning. Maybe their idea of poetic justice?

[u/FangOfDrknss → u/Joey-WilcoXXX]

The cops didn’t seem to know in the movie that Verity was in a vegetative state, which is like the only way they got away with that sleepwalking thing. Still too many “ruled an accidents”, especially in the book.

[u/Joey-WilcoXXX → u/FangOfDrknss]

Yeah her vegetative state was kept secret in the book too but they seemed to at least be open to hinting to the public she wasn’t in great shape as Lowen was hired and announced in the books to ‘cowrite’ with a penname, not ghostwrite.

And yeah there’s always way too many ‘why aren’t they investigating this further?!?’ Scenes in these types of books and movies. This one was the most unwilling to try to provide any type of explanation because there’s really no logical ones in most cases lol

[u/dean15892 → u/Grizzled_Ghost]

That caretaker was so hilarious , lol

Twice she just gives this bland update to Lowen and Lowen goes "okay??"

And there's no payoff, haha

[u/Easy-Hospital2718 → u/Grizzled_Ghost]

When the nurse first got introduced to lowen, she mentioned her being a female and a young one at that. It doesn’t seem very appropriate to hire someone to not only finish your wife’s book but to also move in with you. I think the nurse was just trying to remind her that Verity is still in a vegetative state and she should act accordingly.

[u/shonamanik0905 → u/Easy-Hospital2718]

That's how I took it too actually

[u/itchypoopsarethebest → u/Grizzled_Ghost]

I thought the same thing about your first point. When they were outside and the nurse tells her she’s going to the store and verity is sleeping, I literally thought “why are you telling me that?”

[u/FangOfDrknss]

Haven’t seen it brought up, but did no one else think her relationship with her agent was weird? I got the impression they were casually sleeping around, before her “you should focus on Becca”.

[u/Joey-WilcoXXX → u/FangOfDrknss]

They were sleeping together before he met Becca in the book, yes.

He seemed even weirder though because his acting was pretty terrible.

[u/Wise_Development_775 → u/Joey-WilcoXXX]

sooo bad. Also I couldn’t even hear half his lines, like please enunciate dude..

[u/chill75 → u/Joey-WilcoXXX]

Just watched this with hubby and we could not stop laughing at how bad his acting was as we drove home. It was a strange choice.

[u/jwktiger → u/FangOfDrknss]

I felt it was just he was looking to hook up again with her, and she had moved on and used the Becca thing as a way to shut him down; which seems to be somewhat how the book does it from other comments.

[u/talbottron → u/FangOfDrknss]

The agent's performance made no sense to me. It's like someone asked him which accent he was going to do for the role, and he just said "all of them."

[u/chelzjohn]

the fake Call Her Daddy podcast and hot wings interview were so fucking weird lmao

[u/glossbite → u/chelzjohn]

my eyes rolled so far back in my head when I saw Alex Cooper. I typically like the real world people playing themselves but that was just too much. A good example of this was in the opening with Gayle King. It didn’t feel forced like the CHD and Hot Ones interviews

[u/Deadloops]

Dialogue is in this was hilarious

Lowen : "Is that a field ?"

Jeremy: "No, it's a lake."

Jeremy: "My daughter drowned in a lake last week" Lowen: "No way! My mother died of cancer last week"

[u/xlachiex → u/Deadloops]

In the book there’s a lot of inner dialogue from Lowden’s perspective in the bathroom scene. It’s meant to be awkward, but the inner dialogue helps explain why she’s making awkward conversational choices. Without the inner dialogue, I agree the conversation seems dumb.

The lake was never frozen over in the book and I don’t know why they decided to make the change, apart from maybe the fact that winter is spookier maybe? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/Local-Piccolo-7817]

I think the twist in this movie is really just that they want things to feel ambiguous when in reality, the letter she finds that Verity wrote makes zero sense and is almost definitely a lie. The husband’s reaction to Lowen telling him about the manuscript makes zero sense if he already knew Verity killed Harper. 

And why would he not have finished the job after staging the car accident? Why would he resign himself to taking care of her for the rest of her life if he wanted her dead anyway.

The only way it makes sense to me is if Verity was completely lying in the letter at the end

[u/Former-Leopard4605 → u/Local-Piccolo-7817]

Totally agree, the letter seemed to be adressed to everyone else but Jeremy. Why did she need to explain him things he's already aware of? Why even write him a letter at all and hiding it in the kid's hiding place? That makes no sense and sounds off. 

[u/algang22 → u/Local-Piccolo-7817]

100% agree, many scenes only makes sense if Verity is actually guilty, and the letter is a lie. The twist fell flat for me because of that.

[u/sweatyplace2 → u/Local-Piccolo-7817]

But what was her end goal if she was guilty and was pretending to be in the vegetative state? At least with the final letter being real, you could chalk it up to the husband being the bad guy. (But then I don't know what his end goal with her was either)

[u/Sweet-One-1830 → u/sweatyplace2]

She thought being helpless, sick would bring her husband's attention back to her from their daughter.She is not normal so is not her love.

[u/Plantain_Queasy → u/Sweet-One-1830]

Yeah but that doesn't explain how she was able to see them fucking and then walk back to her bed as if she was unbothered.

[u/wishyouwerehere99]

In the scene where Verity and Jeremy meet, why does the bartender immediately agree to stop serving her drinks just because Jeremy asks? Was it Jeremy’s party? It didn’t seem like it. Since when does a random guy get to decide whether another customer gets served?

[u/Bristolhitcher → u/wishyouwerehere99]

50 Shades of Grey-esque moment, geniunely thought it was alluding to him being someone powerful

[u/Hello-there2021 → u/Bristolhitcher]

Totally same take. From the moment he gave his shirt to her knowing who she was. I was like oh he is showing Dommish behavior. But I forgot this was a Colleen Hoover book and is the Steohanie Meyers for grown women and it went nowhere.

[u/nordlysbaies → u/wishyouwerehere99]

In the book Verity confronted the bartender about it, that he should listen to her and not a random man, because she wanted another drink. Bartender then said he didn’t wanna be involved and directed them to another bar. At that bar, Verity ordered water after Jeremy said he wanted her sober to ask to take her home.

The movie cut that short so it didn’t make sense, they should’ve just replaced the entire scene.

[u/A_Howl_In_The_Night → u/wishyouwerehere99]

Josh Hartnett

[u/diamondalicia → u/wishyouwerehere99]

my take when reading the book is it’s a wealthy event, the bartender assumes most guests are rich/more powerful compared to them so it’s kinda like a “no questions asked” thing when they want something? And i assumed Jeremy mentioned it to the bartender before approaching verity, as he says he’s been watching her all night. if that makes sense, the movie did a faint job with explaining the context to a lot of scenes, but this scene also isn’t explained the best in the book.

[u/Bristolhitcher]

The wood biting and peanutbutter knife scenes were hard watches... thanks Bring Her Back PTSD

[u/MindlessCharacter823 → u/Bristolhitcher]

The child sliding the knife in and out of his mouth was gross.

[u/SparkG → u/Bristolhitcher]

The knife wasn’t even that damned sharped.

[u/Sad-Marionberry-3590]

Why does it always seem like Dakota Johnson is just playing herself

[u/talbottron → u/Sad-Marionberry-3590]

It's weird because she's actually really funny in interviews and seems quite cool, but her acting is so wooden.

[u/JDLovesElliot → u/talbottron]

I think that's part of the problem, she always looks like she's about to break out laughing, like she's too cool to take acting seriously.

[u/Wise_Development_775 → u/Sad-Marionberry-3590]

Because she can’t act

[u/Mysterialistic → u/Wise_Development_775]

When she was threatening Verity in her bedroom, the line delivery was so bad I almost stopped watching the movie. That should have been her moment to truly shine, because the opposite character could not respond, so she basically had open field to do whatever she wanted, and she ruined it.
I feel bad for both Josh Hartnett and Anne Hathaway for having to work with that. They saved this movie.

[u/Kopitarrulez → u/Sad-Marionberry-3590]

Absolutely died at the meta dialogue saying she has resting bored face haha

[u/FoxMeetsDear → u/Sad-Marionberry-3590]

Because she is.

[u/kimribbean]

So like why didn’t she escape when he went to NYC for at least 24 hrs ?

[u/Joey-WilcoXXX → u/kimribbean]

The book makes it clear she knows she’ll need money so she plans on stealing the advance the publishing company is going to pay Lowen for taking over the series. Also she wants to find and dispose of the manuscript to protect her.

[u/Witty-Play9499]

Bruh when verity suddenly 'woke up' in front of jeremy everyone at my theatre flinched 💀💀💀💀 no amount of book reading could have prepped me for that

[u/mustangst → u/Witty-Play9499]

that was the best part of the movie. I read the book before and even I gasped when it happened

[u/KarIPilkington → u/Witty-Play9499]

That was actually very well done, entirely down to Hathaway and Hartnett I think. I knew it was coming (also read the book) but it still felt chilling.

[u/caty0325 → u/Witty-Play9499]

Josh Hartnett's reaction was amazing.

[u/jwktiger → u/caty0325]

He did amazing in this movie

[u/BabeYoureMySoulmate → u/Witty-Play9499]

a girl screamed so loud in our theater that whole room erupted laughing - it was nice levity haha

[u/AmazingMarv → u/Witty-Play9499]

Its a good twist but a preposterous plot point. No way could someone pretend to be comatose for months. Absolutely insane.

[u/Askanything236]

I’m going to be honest, I left feeling a little disappointed. Of course Anne Hathaway’s acting was phenomenal, but I just felt some of the script and dialogue could’ve been better

[u/Electrical-Dirt2291 → u/Askanything236]

Rosemund pike in my opinion would have been a phenomenal verity that’s who I pictured when I read it

[u/OceanBoulevardTunnel → u/Electrical-Dirt2291]

She already played the better version of this character in Gone Girl, so I’m sure it wouldn’t interest her 😂

[u/soup_hag]

Why were the baby monitors, that presumably hadn't been used in 8 years and were used in a different house, in such a prominent place in the pantry?

[u/Cassopeia88 → u/soup_hag]

Plot connivence.

[u/PositiveCheese]

I enjoyed the movie but it felt drawn out and random at places. The nurse giving Lowen random updates on Verity were odd. Ok Verity is sleeping, why tf would Lowen care? I started to think maybe the nurse knew more than she let on but her character went no where.

Lowen and Jeremy hooking up seemed so out of place. One minute he's talking about his son's therapy then it's like oh yea I'm a man you're a woman, let's fuck. Maybe I missed the subtle signs but Lowen didn't express interest in him until awkwardly in that moment and then the bday dinner. Idk maybe it was her resting bored face. Never read the book so I was shocked by the twist. I thought she was going to be some immortal creature or vampire given all the biting.

I'm inclined to lean towards Verity faking to run away (even though she had plenty of opportunities) Rather than her actually killing her daughter. Didn't care for how they dumped her body. Also wouldn't an autopsy show there was no water in her lungs when she died? Idk I give it a 6/10 for potential

[u/RedMeme262 → u/PositiveCheese]

Agree on the nurse. Why was she not questioned by police? Shouldn't she have been skeptical of Verity all of a sudden just walking off into the night, having never witnessed her walk? No one thought that 7 months after his wife's death/disappearance that it was fishy that the husband and ghostwriter are together and having a baby?! I didn't read the book, but was thinking at the end it was going to somehow be the son - like he was some demon child, especially when he cut his mouth with the knife and doged Lowen's (dumbass name btw) questions about his sister.

[u/Hello-there2021 → u/RedMeme262]

Having the son do that and then make big deal about his drawings and then Veritys letter made no sense.

[u/Business-Gap-5209 → u/PositiveCheese]

agree with the nurse giving random updates…i think they were only there so we’d know when the nurse wasn’t there? like “ok verity is watching tv” and then we see her standing up at the window so we know the nurse isn’t helping her in those moments and that she really is faking

[u/TerrorDino → u/Business-Gap-5209]

The first time she does it saying she's going to the shop, she could have just asked if lowen wanted anything and it wouldn't have been in any way odd. Such a strange choice.

[u/Steamedcarpet]

After this movie I am now convinced Dakota Johnson is secretly a lizard person trying to act like how a human acts.

Anne Hathaway sat in a chair for most of the movie and still did better.

[u/Unlucky_Clover → u/Steamedcarpet]

Thank you! Her acting just seriously took me out of it the entire movie, just so wooden and dull.

[u/twavisdegwet]

Wow so an adult can write a story where the big reveal is "IT WAS OPPOSITE DAY".

our movie opens up saying "There's a lot of superlatives that describe you..." Only to then list a bunch of adjectives that are distinctly not superlatives?!?!

Why the hell was it suddenly daylight in between the sex scenes that seem to have happened in the same night?

Love that this accomplished author character wrote the phrase "he did it inside of me" and the camera zoomed in on it like it was raunchy top tier writing?

What was the weird sub plot where Dakota implied Josh was trapped in the house and couldn't leave out of nowhere!? YOU MET HIM OUTSIDE THE HOUSE? WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT!?

I like how the nurse/housekeepr/babysitter is there when it's needed for the plot and not there when she isn't. I assume she was giving Anne drugs to keep her paralyzed and that's why the pin prick didn't get a reaction- just an incredibly odd character that comes and goes from the movie as needed.

There's also some weird sound design choices; rustling/wooshing wind noises when they're fully indoors with the windows closed. Just a super odd film

I can't think of a single redeemable thing in this movie. It was boring as hell- the story was borderline nonsense and yet it never crossed the edge of being so bad it's good.

I wish Digger had showtimes that lined up better with when I get out of work but they gave this one the coveted Dolby at 5 o'clock slot- so be it. 2/10

[u/UnderwoodsNipple → u/twavisdegwet]

The movie is honestly so unintentionally funny. Line deliveries, dialogue, the way people react.

The way the caretaker announces her departure to Dakota directly who then looks at her like she's on 'The Office'.

How Dakota talks to her lawyer friend about his love life like they've never talked before. Incredibly awkward.

One of my favorite bits was Hartnett looking at Johnson going "Are you Happy? I can't tell if you're happy" and it's like, yes Josh, we can't tell what she's thinking either. That she then replies with "I just have resting bored face" makes it even better.

I predict this'll become a camp classic.

[u/makeussolvecrimes → u/UnderwoodsNipple]

me and the person sitting beside me (a complete stranger btw) legit laugh out loud when Lowen suddenly gave Jeremy advise on how to strangle Verity to cover tracks.🤣🤦‍♂️

[u/nessao616 → u/makeussolvecrimes]

I laughed out loud when Verity said the babies sleep all night because they were exhausted from crying all day from being ignored. Idk but I was like damn thats funny. And then theater was silent I felt kinda bad for laughing.

[u/buttcrfly → u/makeussolvecrimes]

I was trying so hard not to laugh because the stranger beside me was so invested, like full on gasping in shock.

[u/Reutermo → u/UnderwoodsNipple]

How Dakota talks to her lawyer friend about his love life like they've never talked before. Incredibly awkward.

I didnt like the movie but he was her publisher, not lawyer and it was pretyy apparent that they had been casually hooking up but now she said he should try to get serious with the girl from his instagram and not fooling around with her anymore.

[u/glasgowgeg → u/UnderwoodsNipple]

The movie is honestly so unintentionally funny

Funniest bike death since Hathaway herself in One Day, both of which result in the cyclists shoes both flying off when they die.

[u/noilegnavXscaflowne → u/glasgowgeg]

In the book the bikers head gets popped when run over so that’s why there’s so much blood. I was really confused why Dakota was splattered with so much bloods and was expecting worse. Also confused how a kid cuts himself with a butter knife 😭

[u/MindManualReader → u/twavisdegwet]

Love that this accomplished author character wrote the phrase "he did it inside of me" and the camera zoomed in on it like it was raunchy top tier writing?

I have to say, as someone who knows Colleen Hoover's writing quality only by reputation, I assumed this was straight from the book.

[u/supurrstitious → u/MindManualReader]

It is straight from the book hahaha

[u/IndependenceWorth706]

Anyone else feel like the movie made it seem like the husband had something to do with it all??? The bicycle scene felt planned. He told lowen he didn’t know her until he said her name but later in the movie he said he was the one who actually liked her book? & then when he wanted to know more about her and the first random question he asked was when was her birthday? And it just so had happened to be her birthday? It just kinda seems articulated and he knew all about her?! Knew she was broke and about to be evicted. & how is nobody talking about how she told him to kill verity?? I think Lowen killed her mom the same way! & also why did the brother never ask about his sister after the lake incident?!

[u/Unlucky_Clover → u/IndependenceWorth706]

I was hoping the husband was the real writer and Verity was just the face to act like she wrote them. And his writing from the antagonist’s POV was really just him writing about all the things he would do

[u/Sisiwakanamaru]

I had so much fun with this movie, especially with that twist, after twist, it felt pretty soapy, but it was addicting.

I really like Anne Hathaway's energy in here, it's like she knows the story itself was ridiculous, I kinda wished Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett brought the same energy.

[u/Groot746 → u/Sisiwakanamaru]

Dakota Johnson and energy just don't mix: I've never seen someone who seems so bored and annoyed to be a millionaire and cast in countless films

[u/SynthwaveSax → u/Groot746]

Her “I have resting boring face” line pretty much breaks the fourth wall.

[u/_GeorgeBailey_]

"You'll never see Crew or I again."

*Crew or me

You wouldn't say, "You'll never see I again."

[u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2 → u/_GeorgeBailey_]

this is just a forever argument with so many incorrect people. thank you.

[u/_GeorgeBailey_ → u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

The worst is when people say, "John and I's."

"I's" is never a thing. How do people say that and not realize how dumb it sounds?

[u/neal1701 → u/_GeorgeBailey_]

I don't know how that made past so many stages of production and no one corrected it! It's even more embarrassing as the character that wrote the letter is an author!

[u/mattXIX → u/neal1701]

Yeah, but it’s Coleen Hoover…

[u/Grizzled_Ghost → u/_GeorgeBailey_]

It would've been funny if she broke her charade there because she couldn't resist correcting him.

[u/potegal]

Did anyone catch where Jeremy said he had to pull his 8 year old daughter’s body out of the lake, but then she and Crew are twins and he looks 4-5 years old???

[u/nyah007 → u/potegal]

Same, it had me wondering where the other kid was because there’s no way they expected us to believe crew was 8-9

[u/Excellent_Drop6869 → u/potegal]

I was thinking the same lol. Caught myself doing mental math anytime crew was on screen. “If the daughter was 8 when she died and it happened last year, that means he must be 9 now. Wait, he looks 6”

[u/jobening]

ngl Crew’s jump scare at the end got me lmao

[u/ellsworth420]

Dakota “Let me step back and interrogate this kid about the tragic / traumatic death of his sister” Johnson

[u/isval17]

Ending a movie with a Hot Ones interview has to be the funniest thing in cinema history 

[u/usedforjerkingoff]

lol who says “you’re crushing her windpipe!” Lmao.

And Dakota Johnson’s go to movement seems to be to cover her mouth with her hands for every emotion she feels.

The movie was so bad it was funny.

[u/alllmycircuits → u/usedforjerkingoff]

Covering her mouth and sipping from a mug in an oversized sweater

[u/shadyhawkins]

Michael Showalter directed this??

[u/twavisdegwet → u/shadyhawkins]

To be fair I think this was competently directed. The problem is everything else. Maybe what we saw was the best of 50 takes trying to extract something from Dakota until they gave up and canonized her having a resting bored face.

[u/GamingTatertot → u/shadyhawkins]

He’s got a thing for Anne Hathaway films

[u/catsinabasket → u/shadyhawkins]

the fact that he did and the fact that it is so bad is like… it was supposed to be bad on purpose, right??? like the book was already bad but this was worse. at times it reached camp levels but then at other times wasn’t hitting so i was overall confused if this was supposed to be serious or not lol

[u/SantiFRV_]

I read the novel this past weekend in anticipation for this movie and, while Colleen Hoover isn't something I'd normally read, it was pretty fun for the plane rides I had to be on. After watching this, I understand that some things did have to be cut for the adaptation but it's hard to state how much worse the manuscript was in the book.

Furthermore, I understand a lot of the criticisms people have here towards Johnson, but I felt Lowen was written to be boring and insecure, until she decides she wants to sleep with Jeremy. Anne as Verity though, she did really well.

I feel like I would've just liked this movie to go all out, like it was too serious for material that didn't call for it nor was it campy enough either.

[u/Bristolhitcher → u/SantiFRV_]

But the real question is "Did you buy it in an airport"?

[u/2mock2turtle]

I ultimately went because I'd seen all of Anne Hathaway's other movies this year in theaters (yes I'm one of the eight people who bought a ticket for Mother Mary), and despite my distaste for Colleen Hoover it seemed a pity not to complete the series. And to her credit, Anne herself is delicious as Verity, to the point where it raises my score a full point. But good god this movie is a mess. It's frustrating because you can tell the bones of an actually good thriller are there, but either Hoover and/or Michael Showalter and/or Nick Antosca aren't up to the task of actually crafting something exceptional. If you want to have a Turn of the Screw-style ending, you have to stick it, and this one didn't stick it. And then while I respect her for being the straw that broke Ellen's back, Dakota Johnson is not beating the allegations based on her performance here. Granted, I don't know if I've seen her in anything else.

I said this in another thread, but of the five Amazon MGM movies I've seen this year, this one is the most "we made this for streaming" of them all. Multiple people in my screening kept taking out their phones, which kind of supports my point.

[u/weirdogirl144 → u/2mock2turtle]

Dakota's acting is the same dull monotone delivery in every movie I've seen of hers, I'll never be convinced she's a good actress or is even considered one.

[u/pnmartini → u/weirdogirl144]

Being a nepo baby, and having the lead role in a $1.3 billion franchise will get her work for awhile. I do agree though, she has the range of a slightly damp paper towel.

[u/robynhood96 → u/2mock2turtle]

The book is much more fucked up and stressful

[u/Hello-there2021 → u/2mock2turtle]

Anne NEEDS a different Verity role with better writing and directing. She was gorgeous and intoxicating in this. Like I wish they would went more manipulative heavy and had her more psychotic or like Domme energy like Nikki Obsessed energy over Jeremy.

[u/lonelygagger]

I liked it, though it kind of fell apart for me at the end. Hiding that long ass confession note for Jeremy under the floorboards (where Crew apparently has full access) made absolutely no fucking sense to me, nor the idea of writing one's "autobiography" as a complete fiction. It was also kind of hard to root for Lowen when she was doing the same kind of deception as Verity.

It reminded me a bit of The Housemaid for whatever reason. I liked most of it, but it ultimately disappointed me.

[u/FangOfDrknss → u/lonelygagger]

Yeah, I don’t know who the fuck would even write a fake autobiography, but that’s the logic of Colleen Hoover. All I saw was The Housemaid for this.

They both needed a place to live and got it through their jobs. The dads were basically both single despite being married, and etc.

[u/OKC2023champs]

Somehow this film made The Housemaid look like Se7en and Sydney Sweeney look like prime Meryl Streep. This film is laughably bad.

First off, Dakota Johnson might be the worst actress in Hollywood, so let’s get that out of the way. Her line delivery was some of the most monotone, cringe-inducing shit I’ve seen in a long time. Every time she interacted with Crew, I wished she hadn’t. The worst interrupting cow delivery ever.

My favorite part of this film was that biker getting hit for no fucking reason and having absolutely zero impact on the story.

Breaking down the actual film now: if anyone behaved like a normal human being, we have zero story.

First off, don’t title something MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY and use your real names while writing about killing your child, especially right after the accident.

Second, Jeremy is a dumbass for trying to kill her instead of calling the police or, I don’t know, TALKING TO HER.

Lowen is dumb for going along with everything and being a pain in the ass for the entire film.

My biggest issue, though: Lowen and Verity spend time together. Alone. After Lowen finds the manuscript.

FUCKING TELL HER YOU DIDN’T KILL THE KID AND YOU’RE SCARED.

The editing and dialogue were terrible too.

Josh Hartnett wasn’t awful, at least.

But this is in contention for worst film of the year alongside Ice Cream Man.

3/10 because it almost got into so bad it’s good territory. And there was some nice Vermont cinematography.

[u/SantiFRV_ → u/OKC2023champs]

The novel does literally open with the biker getting run over. Like, literally the first sentence of the book is about him. It immediately sets up Lowen meeting Jeremy so it makes a bit more sense there.

[u/Ahambone]

Uhhhh did y'all forget to attach an ending

[u/Joey-WilcoXXX → u/Ahambone]

The pacing is just so fucking bad for this story. I was so shocked when I read the book that I was almost at the end and even more shocked when there was no real conflict to overcome in the ending.

[u/Aatypicalflower]

Dakota is the same in every movie. Zero range, yet she keeps getting lead roles. Astonishing. Anne understood the assignment, the only good acting performance.

The movie was bad, even for a trashy thriller. Maybe different actors for Lowen and Jeremy could have elevated it a bit. The pacing was also off.

[u/aspicymeataballaaa]

am i crazy or did jeremy not say “i pulled the body of my 8 year old daughter out of a lake” but the daughter wasn’t 8……. and he didn’t pull her out of the lake. he wasn’t even home when she died……??? was he just lying to lowen about his trauma to make her trust him

[u/robynhood96]

I understand, for time, why they cut some stuff but god the book is so much more fucked up and we could have gotten rid of the entire birthday sequence to dive more into the twin girls, her hating both then having the dream then mainly hating Harper and then the other twin accidentally dying to Harper dying then being left with crew lol

I really wanted the depths of verity’s manuscript. It’s a good movie but I really need to stop reading books and watching the movie afterwards and expecting to be satisfied lol

[u/diamondalicia → u/robynhood96]

i agree!! i think the book was way more ambiguous, my friend ended the movie thinking verity was completely innocent, he had no thought she lied. and i think many will walk out with the same emotions, with the book i heavily leaned towards the manuscript while still questioning my thoughts. Cutting out Chastin and most of Verity & Harper’s experience was brutal. Before going in ik she was cut, i was still open because i thought it can still be done. i didn’t realize cutting out Chastin would also remove the suspicion Jeremy had early on, which is also pivotal to the plot for me. While reading i gave verity the benefit of the doubt loosely up until Chastin grew on her. By then ik she was deranged to a level but when she singled out 1/3 kids is when the story became its juiciest!

[u/dean15892 → u/robynhood96]

This is why I've started doing it in reverse now.
if a movie is coming out based on a book, and I haven't read it yet, I will wait to watch the movie and then read the book.

Highly recommend.
Makes you enjoy both mediums.

[u/Whathetea → u/robynhood96]

Were you also confused how the movie completely changed the twins! My friend who never read the book was shocked to find out the reason she hated Harper. This was such a huge detail I don’t know why it was changed.

[u/dean15892]

such a bland film.
I did read the book a year ago, so I was curious how they'd depict it.

but as a filmmaker myself, the level of amateur filmmaking here is horrendous.
Every shot is a zoom close-up. Every interaction is shot-reverse shot. There's barely any score or music, and it feels like temp music. The acting feels like they're just reading lines. The lighting is dark; the cinematography is passive.

There is just no creativity in this film in any calibre.
a large chunk of this film is text on screen, and even that could've been done creatively, but you're literally reading it with the character, which is the most boring way to show something like this.

If you want a better film with a similar thriller element, I would recommend the Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney.
Neither can act, but at least that film's twist was done in an interesting way.

This is a mediocre streaming movie, meant to be watched while you're on your phone at home.

[u/Melodic_Ad_9927]

So what was the point of the creepy nurse? Lol. She just faded off into the sunset. 

[u/Major-Specialist3658]

bruh ngl for a thriller… i was kinda bored

[u/dean15892 → u/Major-Specialist3658]

for an erotic thriller, i was boreder

[u/Whathetea]

I can’t believe they left out when Lowen wakes up in Verity’s bed!! That would have been a great jump scare

[u/EvilBrejnev]

Man I laughed so hard at those cheap jumpscares 😭 especially the one with Crew at the end. Very lame attempt to make this movie more tense than it actually is

Also can we agree that the scene with the biker getting killed at the beginning was just a pretext to include a bloody scene in the trailer? That dude died for nothing

It's that kind of movie so bad I almost ended up enjoying it. Dakota Johnson 's acting is from another dimension

[u/scotiangirl90]

Just left the theatre… ugh. They left out SO MUCH. I understand not being able to put in every little detail that doesn’t further the plot.. but Lowen’s sleepwalking/the lock and Verity locking them in was SUCH a good part of the book. I was disappointed that it wasn’t included. Also, Verity’s abortion attempt should have also been included imo, as well as how Jeremy ACTUALLY kills her.

Anyways. The movie was a 4/10 for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/neal1701]

Verity is a very mixed bag of a movie!

• Tonally, the movie is very off. I felt the first 30 minutes was a very self-serious/ deadpan humor take of the adaptation but it veers into a very serious psychological thriller which makes the movie lose steam and makes the runtime feel long.
• I honestly thought the first 30 minutes were hilarious, although it may not be the intention. Lowen's conversation with Jeremy in the toilet after the accident was hilarious.
• I found "My daughter died last year in a lake. My daughter died last month of cancer" and the meeting to happen immediately after the conversation in the toilet to be very funny and campy.
• Although Verity is the title character and the whole movie unfolds through her words, Anne Hathaway is very much a supporting role here. She gaves a great performance as the evil Verity and as a grieving mother at the end with the letter.
• i consider Dakota Johnson to be the lead character and I think she is alright but nothing noteworthy.
• I felt Josh Harnett and the supporting characters were not given much to do except have conversations with Lowen.
• I understand it's a psychological thriller but I don't care for the sex scenes as I felt it was superfluous.
• The ending was comically dark with Verity's death and the reveal with the letter.
• I think the movie could have been better with a campy tone (like The Housemaid) or maybe have Verity's death take place at the start of the third act to land the letter reveal better.

A watchable movie but not much in substance.

[u/Timely_Future4163 → u/neal1701]

Me and the guy sitting by me both laughed when she said her mother died of cancer last week. I think Dakota Johnson is hilarious in everything no matter what the movie type is and what her character is supposed to be.

[u/Sisiwakanamaru → u/neal1701]

I think the movie could have been better with a campy tone (like The Housemaid) or maybe have Verity's death take place at the start of the third act to land the letter reveal better.

Yeah, I think it would work better if they set the tone of the movie like "Scream" but for thriller like this movie or the Housemaid.

[u/Animalboy_]

First Act was kinda ass. Second act was alright. Third Act was ass.

[u/UpliftinglyStrong]

Josh Hartnett realizing he has to try and act after murdering Verity sent me.

I do not blame anyone in this production for phoning it in, probably the easiest paycheck in their lives.

[u/KellyJin17]

I was 100% down for a fun adaptation of such a nasty and idiotic book, but the film was kind of toothless. It pulled so many of its punches and seemed afraid of everything that made the book notorious. It softened the main character by a lot, had mostly PG “sex scenes” that all ended with faded cutaways, where if you told me that the actors filmed the scenes in completely different rooms I would believe you, and it skipped over most of the murderous intent towards the kids. Josh Hartnett was criminally underutilized, and Anne Hathaway did what she could but her character was largely defanged. And why adapt an erotic thriller if you’re afraid to include the eroticism? Felt very puritan compared to the book. You have to go all in on the crazy with these things, otherwise what’s the point?

[u/J-Earp]

team manuscript or letter?

[u/CatScratchFever_03]

When method acting goes VERY wrong.

[u/ffbbaarrnnaa]

I liked the first half of it the buildup of it, but the second half was such a let down. I hate that it went tropey of dakota's character getting it on with the husband, her character made no sense, why would she involved in all this. I don't care if the manuscript is real or the letter lol. But Anne acted her parts really well, but imo her character wasn't well fleshed out too. Maybe that is part of the ambigiuty or whatever, but yes the second half even though it had its moments did not work for me.

P.S: Dakota's acting doesn't help either :(

[u/DavyJonesRocker]

There are so many hints and clues of a bigger, twisty, more interesting story. But Hoover, Antosca, and Honley managed to steer into the more boring choice every time.

[u/Optimal_Location_616]

I don’t understand the point of the movie
Like it’s just a bunch of conflicting info and the morale
Is “well you’ll never know what’s true”