A writer’s words should be “honest, bloody, and a little bit terrifying.” That certainly sounds like an appropriate mission statement for “Verity,” the terrifying adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling psychological thriller.
Amazon MGM Studios has released a new trailer for the film, starring Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett in a steamy story of obsession, deception, and a marriage with some very dark secrets.
Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer whose financial problems seemingly disappear when Jeremy Crawford (Hartnett) offers her an unusually lucrative assignment. His wife, bestselling thriller author Verity Crawford (Hathaway), has been left unable to complete her successful book series following a mysterious accident, and Lowen is hired to finish the job.
Ashleigh’s arrival at the lavish Crawford estate slowly reveals that things are not exactly as they seem when she finds an unfinished manuscript that possibly contains chilling revelations about the family’s past and Verity’s accident. As Lowen ingratiates herself with Jeremy and his young son Crew, she must discern if Verity’s writings are just scarily vivid works of fiction or an ominous warning by a deranged psychopath, who, in the books, is comatose upstairs in the master bedroom.
Johnson said that she didn’t know of the novel prior to reading the script in an interview with Deadline.
“She’s a really cool person,” the Materialists star said of Colleen Hoover. “But yeah, it’s Josh Hartnett, Anne Hathaway and me. I mean, obviously, everyone knows what it’s about from the book, but it’s about a ghostwriter or a writer who goes to finish the novels of this very established writer because she had been in an accident. So, she moves into the house with her and her husband and their kid and then all of these really weird twists and turns take place. It’s juicy.”
Michael Showalter directs the film, working from a screenplay by Nick Antosca. Several earlier drafts came from other writers before Antosca’s version became the one that made it to screen. This includes passes from Hoover herself along with Hillary Seitz, Angela LaManna, and the writing duo of Will Honley and April Maguire.
“Verity” is set to release in theatres October 2nd, 2026.
