MOVIE OF THE WEEK (10/2/26): VERITY

"Maybe if I keep reading this fake autobiography of the titular character this disaster of a movie will somehow get better!" Small-time novelist  turned-hired ghostwriter Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) dives deep into a manuscript of the star predisposed author whose work she could finish in a scene from Michael Showalter's VERITY. Credit: Alisa Wetherill © 2026 Amazon Studios. All Rights Reserved.

CAST: Dakota Johnson | Josh Hartnett | Anne Hathaway | Ismael Cruz Córdova | Brady Wagner

WRITER: Nick Antosca (screenplay) | Colleen Hoover (novel on which the film is based)

DIRECTOR: Michael Showalter

TRAILER:

THE STORY: Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover, VERITY stars Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford, one of the most successful novelists in the world, specializing in writing crime novels with diabolical villains as the star of her pages. Despite working in the same general genre, Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), however, is not. But when she gets a call to finish three more books in Verity's most popular series after an accident renders her unable to do so, a reluctant Lowen eventually decides to take the job. But the deeper she gets into Verity's notes – as well as the more she spends time with her husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett) – Lowen begins to realize something is not as it seems ... Leading to a revelation that could change all three of their lives forever.

THE REVIEW: Despite the duties of the job, there are times in reviewing a film in which being critical of its lead/leads makes me feel bad. After all, going to the Internet seeking validation is usually at best an exercise in futility and at worst, produces severe bullying that can turn fatal.  If you Google "Dakota Johnson criticism," a slew of not-so-nice information is going to come to light. I don't want to pile on, but I cannot deny the fact that when I usually see the words "Dakota Johnson" as one of a movie's leads, my expectations for said film dwindle exponentially.

That is why the best thing I say about VERITY is that while Johnson is not good in it (to put it mildly), neither is anyone or anything else in the final product.

Director Michael Showalter is best known for Wet Hot American Summer and for being part of the sketch comedy troupe The State, stars of the beloved cult sketch series that aired on MTV in the 1990s. A quick perusal of his IMDB page will confirm that by and large, comedy has been quote-unquote "his thing" for most of his career. Thus, one has to wonder if he was actually trying to create a comedy or, at the very least, an homage of the softcore thrillers that were a staple of the late night programming of Cinemax  – a.k.a. "Skinemax – in the 1980s/1990s. For everything about VERITY is presented and more importantly feels like it should be reserved for that time frame as the nearly two hour production is ridiculous from start to finish.

If it's not Johnson delivering lines with the emotion of Ben Stein repeating Ferris Bueller's name in a classroom, Hartnett is not far behind her to match her with the world's cheesiest doting husband/dad routine (until he's not). Then again, the Harlequin Romance-level dialogue crafted by screenwriter/co-producer Nick Antosca does its absolute worst to not help matters, all but guaranteeing VERITY locks up nominations at the Golden Raspberry Awards for worst female lead actor, worst supporting male actor and worst adapted screenplay. Even the music and lighting in VERITY feels forced, overly dramatic (and not in an ironic or humorous way).

All of this – or at least some – could be forgiven, however, if VERITY didn't commit the most egregious cardinal sin a movie of its type can make: Insulting the audience's collective intelligence. Not being familiar nor the target audience for Hoover's work, I am not certain how the story ends in her book. However, if it is anything like the film's last 30 minutes – where the plot twists have more holes than Swiss cheese and make no sense given the information already available/revealed to both Hartnett and Johnson's characters – the supposedly shocking climax falls flat on its face. 

At the risk of sounding extremely misogynistic, VERITY is best reserved for bored housewives who live in a world where their maid lives on site in their own quarters, they debate whether to vacation in the Hamptons or the Poconos, and have children with names that haven't been popular since the American Revolution. Because as outlandish/unrealistic as all of that is for most people, VERITY is that and more. 

If nothing else, the movie will make for great memes and – depending on how intensely fans of the book try to replicate the film in their private lives – great for dentists and orthodontists who are willing to fit women for dentures after biting headboards.

RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):