Written By Mauricio Segura // Image Created By: The Golden Bay Times Graphics Dept.
Some movies tell you exactly what to think. Others invite you to figure things out for yourself. Verity, the 2026 psychological thriller directed by Michael Showalter, belongs firmly in the second category. Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2018 novel, this unsettling tale of obsession, betrayal, and buried secrets kept me intrigued, even when I wasn't entirely sure whom to believe.
Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling New York City writer hired to finish a successful book series by celebrated novelist Verity Crawford, played by Anne Hathaway. Verity has been left severely incapacitated following a car accident, unable to speak or move. To complete the assignment, Lowen temporarily moves into the Crawford family's secluded lakeside estate in Vermont, where Verity's husband, Jeremy, played by Josh Hartnett, welcomes her into a household already weighed down by tragedy.
The house itself deserves considerable credit. Its enormous windows, modern architecture, and isolated woodland surroundings create an atmosphere that is beautiful yet strangely uncomfortable. It looks like somewhere you'd happily spend a vacation, provided nobody asked you to investigate the family secrets.
While searching through Verity's writings, Lowen discovers a disturbing manuscript containing deeply personal accounts of marriage, motherhood, and events that cast the Crawford family's past in a frightening new light. What begins as a promising writing assignment gradually becomes something far more troubling. The question isn't simply what happened, but whether anything Lowen discovers can be trusted.
Johnson brings a quiet curiosity to Lowen, making her believable as someone increasingly drawn into circumstances she cannot fully understand. Hartnett balances Jeremy's charm with the emotional weight of a grieving husband. Hathaway, meanwhile, gives Verity a haunting presence, even when her character cannot speak. Together, they create an uncomfortable triangle built around suspicion, attraction, and uncertainty.
Interestingly, I knew absolutely nothing about the film before watching it. Nor did I read the book. A friend had mentioned hearing that Verity was packed with nudity and sex, although she hadn't seen it herself. Naturally, I wondered whether I was walking into a psychological thriller or an excuse for Hollywood to get everyone undressed since the plot lacked enough to carry the film.
My experience was considerably different. The film features perhaps two or three sexual encounters, each lasting less than a minute. Rather than dominating the story, these moments make up only a tiny fraction of the film. As for nudity, it's practically nonexistent, appearing so briefly in one scene that you could easily miss it if you blinked. More importantly, the idea that the filmmakers relied on gratuitous sex simply to grab attention or make the film more provocative couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, these intimate moments served a purpose, adding realism to the relationships, desires, and emotional complications that help explain the characters' behavior.
At times, the storytelling stretches credibility, and certain decisions deserve a raised eyebrow. There are elements of "I saw this coming", but for the most part, the film took the lead.
Nevertheless, the mystery remains engaging because it continually challenges what we think we know.
Running approximately 114 minutes and rated R for sexual content (barely), some nudity (literally seconds), language, violence, and bloody images, Verity offers something more interesting than its provocative reputation suggests. It's a dark, entertaining puzzle about how easily appearances deceive us and how dangerous the truth can become when everyone has something to hide.
The real attraction isn't what's happening beneath the sheets. It's what's hiding between the lines.
TGBT Rating / B-
