Verity: Movie Review

Colleen Hoover’s psychological thriller Verity was originally released independently in 2018, but was later picked up by a major publishing company and re-released in 2021 following a massive spike in popularity. Unlike her previous books, most of which are either straight romances or dramatic romances, Verity marked a new chapter in Colleen Hoover’s career. The novel not only gained her positive critical acclaim, but also introduced her to a new wave of fans and contributed to a significant amount of word-of-mouth popularity. It’s been a definitive fan favourite on BookTok for years (the massive TikTok community dedicated to all things literature).

Eight years after its initial publication, Verity's movie adaptation opened in up in cinemas worldwide. Given the popularity of both Colleen Hoover herself and the book, it comes as no surprise that the film features a star-studded cast, including Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett.

If you’ve read the book, you know what kind of story Verity tells: it’s a spicy, creepy, twisted tale of a struggling writer who is hired to complete the successful book series of Verity Crawford after Verity is involved in a car accident that leaves her catatonic. Reminiscent of a ’90s erotic thriller such as Basic Instinct, Verity is undeniably a page-turner. Graphic and occasionally a little cringe-worthy, it’s the kind of book that keeps you reading whether you like it or not.

The movie gets a lot of the best parts of the book right, with Anne Hathaway being the biggest highlight. It's seriously impressive how good her acting is, considering she is in a comatose state for most part of the film. Every time she’s on screen, she’s either incredibly charming and captivatingly evil (before the car accident), or absolutely spine-chilling and creepy (after the car accident).

Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett do a good enough job with the material they’re given, but the scenes which only involve the two of them are definitely the weakest parts of the movie, slowing the pace down and making some parts feel a little less engaging than the rest. The two lack the chemistry you would expect from this kind of erotic thriller, but you could argue that this is also the case in the book, where the relationship between Lowen and Jeremy feels somewhat unnatural and, at times, a little uninteresting.

As with any book-to-movie adaptation, there are quite a number of creative liberties the director took and changes he made from the original material. Some are completely understandable, although I was still disappointed by certain scenes being omitted (there is a very graphic, explicit scene from one of the entries in Verity's manuscript which doesn't make it into the movie), while some changes work against the film. Without spoiling the original novel or the movie too much, there is one character from the book who is completely removed from the film, and as a result, certain character decisions and the motivations behind them fall a bit flat. In a similar vein, the third act features quite a significant change to one of the character's fates, and I found myself scratching my head a little trying to understand why they decided to take the story in that direction. I think the book's version worked better and made more sense within the context of the story's ending.

If you haven't read the book, I think you'll still find plenty to enjoy in all the twists and turns, without ever feeling lost. Verity feels like the kind of movie that's perfect for a cold autumn evening with a friend, something you can have fun with, pick apart and debate on the walk home, even if it doesn't necessarily linger in your mind for very long afterwards. And honestly, sometimes that's exactly the kind of movie you need.