+34
The thriller Verity stars Anne Hathaway as a bestselling crime author and Dakota Johnson as the novelist hired to complete her work, leading to dark discoveries. Director Michael Showalter blends dark humour and suspense in a tale about what is real and what is not.
Verity is a new film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel, bringing a twisted tale of truth and deception to the screen. The title itself lays its cards on the table: Verity means truth, from the Latin veritas.
It also happens to be the name of a bestselling crime fiction author, Verity Crawford, played by Anne Hathaway. Her novels tap into her own thoughts, longings and anti-social impulses to such a degree that her husband Jeremy, played by Josh Hartnett, stopped reading them after the first one. He did not want his perception of the woman he loves to be tainted. Is the book version of her the truth, or the version he knows?
Lowen Ashleigh Takes Centre Stage
The story is not Verity's, though. Its narrator and central character is Lowen Ashleigh, played by Dakota Johnson, who is also a novelist but very much at the other end of the publishing mountain. We first meet her as she is doing an apologetically hushed-voice reading in a sparsely attended bookstore, interrupted when one of the attendees gets a phone call. Sorry, the woman says.
Sorry, responds the timorous Lowen. She craves invisibility, she tells us in voiceover. And yet she is also craving attention. When a cyclist is killed as she is about to cross the street, she gets it.
Her face and clothes covered in blood, she betrays no emotion. The man next to her asks if she is OK, then lends her his shirt so she can get to an important business meeting. It is Jeremy, in a coincidence that must make this a contender for most twisted meet-cute in cinematic history. When she gets to the meeting, it is Jeremy again, arriving complete with a fresh shirt.
Verity's Publishing Plan Unravels
Turns out Verity is incapacitated and unable to complete her next novel. Her publisher wants to find someone who can mimic her style and complete it, as well as the two after that. If nothing else, the film is truthful about the mercenary priorities of the modern publishing industry. A life-altering sum of money is offered, and next thing you know Lowen is ensconced in the House of Truth alongside Jeremy and the couple's young son, Crew.
She digs through Verity's notes as she tries to reconstruct her thought processes and narrative stylings. When she finds a hidden thumb drive, though, everything changes. On it is a book Verity had written in secret, an autobiography titled So Be It. And it appears to reveal some very dark verities about Verity.
Director Michael Showalter, who created the often-hilarious Search Party, is no slouch at mixing dark humour and suspense. He does a good job of keeping Verity on just the right side of ridiculous. With Hathaway mostly immobile in her bed or chair, her face wan and stripped of make-up, her lips chapped, there is an air of the haunted house about the beautiful lakeside residence where most of the action takes place.
Dark Suspense and Final Judgment
Verity is the Rebecca de Winter of this temple of sadness. But does Lowen have more in mind than aping her words? Does she want to steal her husband, her house, her life too? Verity is not a great film, but it is a largely enjoyable one.
And with its sense of what is real and what is not in constant flux, it might be the perfect tale for the post-truth age in which we live. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson, and is distributed by Amazon MGM Studios.
brisbanetimes
theage:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Anne Hathaway Dakota Johnson Michael Showalter Post-Truth Thriller
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Verity Review: Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway Star in Unconvincing Erotic ThrillerDakota Johnson returns to erotic thriller territory in Verity, playing a struggling writer hired to ghostwrite for bestselling author Verity Crawford, portrayed by Anne Hathaway. Despite the promise of a sexy mystery-thriller, the film fails to deliver a compelling narrative, resulting in an unconvincing and disappointing experience for audiences.
Read more »
Weekly Cinema Review Highlights Films Starring Tom Cruise and Dakota JohnsonThis weekly cinema roundup features reviews of new releases, including a bombastic satire directed by Alejandro González Iñarritu where Tom Cruise portrays a Texan oil tycoon, a psychological thriller titled Verity starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, and a narrative about a brilliant but misunderstood architect.
Read more »
Howard-era minister voted to outlaw offshore casinos, then co-founded oneFormer federal minister De-Anne Kelly has been revealed as a co-founder of offshore casino LuckyBet.
Read more »