‘Verity’ review: Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway face criticism in Colleen Hoover adaptation

Verity, the Colleen Hoover adaptation starring Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett, has received a sharply critical review from Variety, with critic Guy Lodge describing the film as an ineffective erotic thriller that struggles to build tension.

Directed by Michael Showalter, the film follows Lowen Ashleigh, played by Johnson, a struggling writer hired to complete a bestselling thriller series after its author, Verity Crawford, portrayed by Hathaway, is left unable to communicate following a car accident. Lowen moves into Verity’s home with her husband Jeremy, played by Hartnett, and discovers a disturbing manuscript that appears to reveal secrets about the family.

Lodge’s review argues that the adaptation fails to generate the suspense or erotic charge expected from its premise. The critic also takes issue with the performances, writing that the three leading actors appear disengaged from material that repeatedly pushes towards melodrama.

The review particularly criticises the film’s pacing, describing a story that takes considerable time to reach its major dramatic turns. Its twists and competing versions of events are also portrayed as overly complicated, with the review suggesting that the mystery loses its impact because the film repeatedly signals its own attempts at ambiguity.

Johnson plays Lowen as she becomes increasingly involved with the Crawford family, while Hathaway portrays Verity through both her present condition and a written account of her past. The story draws on themes of authorship, marriage, family tragedy and the uncertain boundary between truth and fiction.

Showalter previously directed Hathaway in The Idea of You, but that Verity is considerably less suited to his comic strengths. The review also points to the production design and score as polished elements that fail to compensate for what it considers weaknesses in the screenplay and direction.