Anne Hathaway in “Verity.”
Amazon MGM Studios/Alisha Wetherill
Verity, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, is getting mixed to morose reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics ahead of its release in theaters this weekend.
Directed by Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Verity plays preview screenings on Thursday before opening Friday in theaters nationwide. Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who moves to the remote estate of acclaimed author Verity Crawford (Hathaway) to ghostwrite for Verity.
After that, per the film’s official summary, “Lowen uncovers what appears to be Verity’s chilling autobiographical notes, she wrestles with the disturbing and twisted confessions about Verity’s husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and finds it hard to separate fiction from reality, manipulation from attraction, and opportunity from obsession.”
Adapted for the screen by Nick Antosca (TV’s Cape Fear), Verity also stars Ismael Cruz Cordova.
The review embargo for Verity was lifted on Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT, and currently, the film has earned a 52% “rotten” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 29 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
Verity marks Hathaway’s fifth film in theaters in 2026 and the only one deemed “rotten” on RT. The Odyssey is Hathaway’s highest-ranked film release this year on RT with a critics’ score of 94% “fresh,” followed by The End of Oak Street (86% “fresh”), The Devil Wears Prada 2 (78% “fresh” ) and Mother Mary (69% “fresh”).
Note: The RT critics’ score for “Verity” will be updated as more reviews are posted on the site.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Verity’?
Clarisse Loughrey of the Independent (U.K.) is among the top critics on RT who give Verity a “rotten” score. Loughrey laments the film’s potential in her RT review summary, writing, “If only Verity were up to the task. If only it were sexy. Or camp. Or fun. Or even just silly. If only it didn’t deliver narrative exposition via the hot sauce-based, online celebrity interview series Hot Ones.”
Guy Lodge of Variety also slams the book on Verity, who in his rotten” take on RT, calls the film “a flat-footed dud, at once overwrought and underplotted, and barely propped up by A-list stars who look either embarrassed, confused or indifferent to be there.”
Richard Lawson of The Hollywood Reporter isn’t impressed with Verity, either. Lawson writes in his “rotten” RT review summary, “The movie is neither sexy nor smart, despite the objective hotness and intelligence of its performers.”
Radheyan Simonpillai also rips the film on RT, writing, “Really, it’s just incoherent, the ultimate revelations exposing how little sense these characters and their actions make, which we wouldn’t be dwelling on so much if Verity at least knew how to be sexy or intriguing, or have more fun, along the way.”
Kristy Puchko of Mashable finds some favorable qualities in Verity but ultimately gives the film a “rotten” score on RT, writing, “It’s sort of weird, sort of sexy, and sort of funny. But ultimately, it feels criminally constrained by mainstream prudishness.”
David Ehlich of IndieWire is among the top critics on RT who give Verity a “fresh” score on RT, writing, “The Housemaid was a clear reminder that a good actress can elevate this kind of material high enough to enjoy at ground-level. Verity has two of them, and Hathaway seems to be having the time of her life.”
Linda Merric of HeyUGuys also gives Verity a “fresh” score, writing on RT, “It is difficult not to enjoy a film this committed to its own particular brand of nonsense. It knows exactly who its audience is, gives them plenty of twists, glamour, sex and melodrama, and delivers some excellent performances along the way.”
Rated R, Verity plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.
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