Verity: Master of Manipulation

Some stories leave you with answers. Others leave you with questions that follow you out of the theatre.

Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, Michael Showalter’s adaptation of Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), a struggling writer who is hired to complete the unfinished books of bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) after a devastating accident leaves her unable to write. But when Lowen arrives at the Crawford home and begins going through Verity’s work, she discovers something far more disturbing: a manuscript that appears to reveal a very different side of the woman everyone thinks they know.

From there, Verity becomes a slow-burning descent into suspicion.

The film takes its time, allowing the uneasiness to build rather than immediately giving away what is hiding beneath the surface. And while I did find myself wanting the story to move a little faster at times, I appreciated how that slow burn created space for the film’s suspense to settle in.

A huge part of that atmosphere comes from the music. The score is phenomenal, constantly adding another layer of tension to the story. There is an almost physical chill that follows Verity throughout the film, and the music knows exactly when to let that feeling linger.

But the film’s greatest strength is Anne Hathaway.

Hathaway is spectacular as Verity. There is something deeply ominous about her performance, even in moments when she barely has to do anything at all. The way she looks, moves and holds herself creates a character who feels impossible to read. Is she vulnerable? Is she calculating? Is there something else happening beneath the surface?

Hathaway never gives us an easy answer.

And that’s precisely why she was such a perfect choice for the role.

Dakota Johnson carries the film as Lowen, taking us through the mystery as she tries to reconcile the woman she encounters with the woman described in Verity’s writing. Her performance gives the audience a way into the story because, just like Lowen, we’re constantly trying to figure out who Verity really is.

Josh Hartnett brings an important presence as Jeremy, and I thought his character served the story well. Personally, though, I would have liked to see a little more from him. There is an interesting tension surrounding Jeremy, Verity and Lowen, and I think the film could have explored that side of them further. That said, I understand that his character is deliberately positioned within the larger mystery rather than given the same psychological focus as Verity and Lowen.

The biggest challenge with adapting Verity was always going to be translating the experience of the book to the screen. Reading the novel allows you to live inside the uncertainty in a way that a film simply cannot replicate. The movie has to find other ways to create that same uneasiness.

And it does.

The performances, the music, the eerie and ominous setting and the lingering questions surrounding Verity all work together to create an atmosphere where nothing feels entirely trustworthy.

Even when you think you know where the story is going, the film keeps that unsettling question alive: what if you’re wrong?

And perhaps that’s exactly what Verity wants.

She doesn’t have to be in every scene to control the atmosphere of the film. Her presence hangs over everything, forcing Lowen and us to reconsider every detail.

For me, Verity is a strong adaptation with excellent casting and an atmosphere that genuinely gets you thinking. I may have wanted the film to give us more in certain places, but Anne Hathaway’s performance makes Verity a character you won’t easily forget.

Near the end, Lowen reflects on the woman at the centre of it all — a woman capable of twisting the truth so completely that even in the end, everything you think you know about her may not be true at all.

That is Verity for you, a Master of Manipulation. 

Sometimes the most frightening stories aren’t the ones where you don’t know the truth. They’re the ones where you can’t decide which truth to believe.

Be sure to immerse yourself in Verity when it hits theatres on October 2. 

But remember, don’t trust anything too easily. Because the truth can always be manipulated.