A One Mann’s Movies review of “Verity”. (2026, 2*, 15).
I appreciate that I need to be a bit wary of ‘Festival Fatigue’. After watching 3 films a day at the London Film Festival, coming back to watch a fourth new release in the evening is a bit much. And, as a result, my general acceptance of “OK-ness” might be a bit frayed. (I remember I did the same for One Battle After Another at the same time last year, and whilst it went on to win Best Picture, I was much more ‘ho hum’ about it).
So, I’ve weighed all that up in my mind…. but still come up with a 2* rating for this one… perhaps it should be grateful it got that. Because, to be honest, at times I found this film to be a real drag.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Verity Crawford (Anna Hathaway) is a renowned author of thriller novels, taking the viewpoint of the murderer who is always horribly twisted and vicious. But up-and-coming but financially-struggling author Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is recruited by her publisher to co-write her latest novel with her, for reasons unclear. It is only when she arrives at the remote family estate in Vermont that the truth becomes apparent as to why help is needed.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC website: “Very strong language, strong sex, violence, bloody images.”)
Talent:
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Brady Wagner, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Irina Dvorovenko, Sienna Kulovitz.
Directed by: Michael Showalter.
Written by: Nick Antosca. (Based on the book by Colleen Hoover.)
Running Time: 1h 57m.
Review:
Positives:
- All three lead actors give solid performances – when does the ever-employed Anne Hathaway not? And it is good to see Josh Hartnett continue his rise back to the A-list. Dakota Johnson gives what might be called a ‘brave’ performance, masturbating in a bath.
- The film opens in interesting style with a random and bloody cute-meet between Lowen (Dakota Johnson) and Jeremy (Josh Hartnett). I was reasonably engaged with the plot until we headed to Vermont.
Negatives:
- Considering this is supposed to be a mystery/thriller, there are whole portions of the story where the momentum just ground to a halt: I was mentally yelling “GET ON WITH IT“. There were some chunks of the film where I was just plain bored: and that should surely never happen in a film of this type should it?
- The actions of Lowen and Jeremy as the film progressed never seemed realistic to me.
- The film aims to bamboozle you with options. Sadly, I really didn’t believe any of them. I know this was a best-selling book…. but really? The resultant ambiguity really didn’t work for me as a conclusion: pick a horse and ride it.
Summary Thoughts:
There seemed a lot of similarities between the style of this film and The Housemaid from earlier in the year. In both cases, we had an innocent (Sydney Sweeney in that case; Dakota Johnson in this) pitched into a ludicrously affluent family home where dark deeds are afoot. But The Housemaid did this so, so much better: there is no comparison in my book.
I’m afraid this is a movie that will disappear into my subconscious faster than a dead little girl into a lake.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdPMKhjMSFs.
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