Verity Movie Review

​“Verity” is another film adaptation of a Colleen Hoover book. There are “Reminders of Him,” “Regretting You,” and “It Ends with Us.” If you like those and you like her books, you’ll probably want to jump into this twisted tale. But I must warn, if you saw “The Housemaid,” they’re quite similar. They have all the same ingredients, just different labels.

This movie is gripping and intense at times. You get pulled in right away, but the biggest problem is that you see most of the story come before it does. It isn’t too terribly original. That said, it’s still entertaining. Anne Hathaway plays Verity Crawford, who is almost comatose the entire film. Dakota Johnson, in her near-deadpan style, has a good character to present: Lowen Ashleigh. She sells her part well enough to make this worth a watch.

Verity was a successful author before her accident. She’s now in a catatonic state after a car accident. Her husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), can’t care for her properly, but her success lets him afford a nurse to keep up with her needs. He’s desperate for kindness, if you know what I mean, and after meeting Lowen Ashleigh, a local author, he asks her not only to ghostwrite the next book in Verity’s current series, but to move in with them while she’s doing it. She can read his wife’s notes and look through all her things, getting to know her deeply and intimately. She has no doubt she can, but the question is whether she wants to. Verity’s type of books aren’t her favorites.

She decides to take the job. She’s single, and Jeremy isn’t bad-looking after all. She starts digging through everything in Verity’s office. She finds an unpublished autobiography and is stunned at what she learns about her. She reads that Verity is in a canoe with her very young son and daughter, and the canoe flips. She loses her daughter. The autobiography suggests that since she didn’t want kids, their deaths couldn’t make her happier. Who is this woman?? Lowen reads on and learns more that worries her. I’m trying to keep this spoiler-free for you; the picture that’s painted of Verity isn’t sympathetic or compassionate. Lowen has been kind to Verity’s son and is attracted to her husband. If she felt guilt before, she doesn’t now.

Something you have to consider is what’s real and what isn’t. The film shows Verity one way, but is that the real her? To Lowen, she seems evil. Is she?

Verity sits in her chair or lies in bed, being judged and cheated on, before you get to the third act. Has the real woman been revealed? Some twists will have you reaching for the truth, but it may take you until the ride home for it to hit you exactly what’s going on. Should Lowen keep looking with better eyes, those who don’t want Jeremy. Perhaps they’ll open her up to making a decision based on what’s best for all. The story is dramatic if you are looking for a suspenseful movie starring two leading ladies. They won’t disappoint you. Neither will the jump scares that had me leaping out of my seat.