VERITY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Michael Showalter
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Brady Wagner, Irina Dvorovenko, Ismael Cruz Cordova.
This is the fourth adaptation of a novel from author Colleen Hoover in as many years, and it follows It Ends With Us, Regretting You, and Reminders Of Him. Like Freida McFadden (author of The Housemaid), Hoover is one of those authors who has leapt onto the bestseller lists after having spent several years self-publishing her novels. As with much of her work it deals with themes of power, sex, dark secrets, and this erotic psychological thriller, which is based on Hoover’s 2018 novel Verity, is a throwback to a trashy melodramatic genre that was popular in the 90s.
Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a best-selling author known for her dark tales that are always told from the perspective of the murderous villain. She has written a series of novels but, following a car accident that has left her catatonic and bedridden and unable to move, she has been unable to complete her current novel. Her publishing company hires Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), a largely unknown and struggling write, to complete the manuscript. Her work apparently has a similar dark quality to Verity’s books that the company believes will enable her to ghost write the novel. The lure of a life changing amount of money is too tempting to turn down.
Lowen moves into Verity’s luxurious, sprawling lakeside home which is situated in an isolated forest estate in Vermont where she can gain access to Verity’s office and all of the notes concerning the structure and plot of the novel.
There she also meets verity’s handsome husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), a wealthy real estate agent and young son Crew (Brady Wagner). The family has been recently rocked by the drowning death of their young daughter Harper and a pall sits over the house.
But while going through Verity’s notes hoping to reconstruct the plot and story line she stumbles upon a hidden USB that contains what looks like an autobiographical account entitled So Be It. It details some dark and disturbing secrets that cast doubt on the truth behind the family’s tragedy as it reveals her bitter resentment that Jeremy seemed to love his children more than her. And Lowen begins to suspect that Verity may be faking her injuries. Or is she just becoming paranoid because she finds herself increasingly attracted to Jeremy?
Verity is a lurid and trashy psychological thriller that holds the interest while it is on screen, but upon leaving the cinema you begin to question some of the inconsistencies, convoluted plot twists, and gaping plot holes. The film has been written by Nick Antosca (who wrote the television miniseries adaptation of the classic thriller Cape Fear, etc) and this is one of the darker novels from Hoover. Some of the dialogue sounds clunky and unrealistic.
This is Hathaway’s fifth film this year, following the horror film Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey, and The End Of Oak Street. Although she largely appears in flashbacks, she imbues her manipulative Verity with a touch of malevolence. Johnson’s role here seems reminiscent of her work in the erotic thriller series Fifty Shades Of grey, but her performance here comes across as a little stilted. Hartnett oozes charm as Jeremy. And former ballet dancer Irina Dvorovenko brings a cold and aloof quality to her role as Anna, Verity’s vaguely unsettling nurse.
Verity has been directed in straightforward fashion by Michael Showalter (the gay romance Spoiler Alert, etc) and he balances the darker tone with some moments of humour and eroticism and does build some tension. The film benefits from some great production design from Amy Williams (Death Of A Unicorn, etc) that creates the warm, comfortable and unthreatening interior of Verity’s house, which creates a contrast with the darker mood that develops as the drama unfolds. And cinematographer Jim Frohna (who shot Showalter’s The Idea Of You) gives the material a glossy sheen.
★★★
