Verity… Verity Crawford.
Played by Anne Hathaway (The End Of Oak Street), she’s ended up in a catatonic state after a boaking accident in the lake behind their home, results in the death of Harper, the daughter of her and her doctor husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett – Trap), but they’ve still got another stupidly-named kid, called Crew.
However, the titular character is a celebrated author of a famous book series, with three left to run in the thriller series. Hence, they need fledgling author Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson – Splitsville) to go through her notes and piece these last ones together and flog them to the public, because they’ll buy any old shite in an airport, just before a holiday.
Some random thoughts about this film:
- The more this goes on, the more it feels like a daft ’70s thriller with jump scares of the day.
- When Lowen spends forever reading self-penned notes about Verity’s life, why isn’t she getting on with the actual book?
- It’s obvious that Lowen and Jeremy the will have a dalliance at some point.
There’s an amusing moment early on, when Lowen inadvertently bumps into Jeremy on the street – which I won’t spoil here – but while that suggested something interesting might follow, I was wrong. And, as this finished, I saw it stems from a Colleen Hoover novel. I should’ve realised. That’s why this twisty-turny gibberish was utter bilge.
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
Verity is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
You can also buy the novel, if you’re not currently in an airport.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 118 minutes
Release date: October 2nd 2026
Studio: Amazon MGM Studios
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic Panavision, X-OCN ST (8.6K, 5.8K))
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 2/10
Director: Michael Showalter
Producers: Nick Antosca, Anne Hathaway, Alex Hedlund, Colleen Hoover, Jordana Mollick, Stacey Sher, Michael Showalter
Screenplay: Nick Antosca
Novel: Colleen Hoover
Music: Volker Bertelmann
Cast:
Verity Crawford: Anne Hathaway
Lowen Ashleigh: Dakota Johnson
Jeremy Crawford: Josh Hartnett
Crew Crawford: Brady Wagner
Corey: Ismael Cruz Cordova
Anna: Irina Dvorovenko
Harper Crawford: Sienna Kulovitz
Amanda Thomas: KK Moggie
Barron Stephens: Tom Galantich
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.