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Verity: Hoover thriller draws mixed reviews before US opening, with $30-35m debut forecast

Ahead of its US release, Verity, starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, drew reviews from scathing to warm. Hathaway was often praised, cast and director gave interviews, and Variety projects a $30-35 million opening.

13 outlets · 6L · 5C · 2R First reported Account updated

Updated (version 4). New coverage since the last version from The A.V. Club. Previously: “Verity, the Colleen Hoover thriller, gets split reviews ahead of its 2 October US release”.

Image: The Independent
Image: Den of Geek
Image: Fox News
Image: /Film
Image: IndieWire
Image: New York Post
Image: Deadline
Image: The Hollywood Reporter

1 / 8

The story, neutrally told

Verity, directed by Michael Showalter, adapts Colleen Hoover's thriller and stars Dakota Johnson as a struggling writer hired to ghostwrite for Anne Hathaway's bestselling author, who is incapacitated after a car accident. Josh Hartnett plays Verity's husband Jeremy; Lowen finds what appears to be Verity's unpublished confession and is drawn in. Variety counts it as the latest Hoover adaptation after It Ends With Us, Regretting You and Reminders of Him.

Reviews published on 30 September were split. The Independent called it a "second-rate copy of The Housemaid" and the A.V. Club said the campy thriller "still falls flat". IndieWire headlined its review "Fun and Frigid". Several critics, even some unenthusiastic ones, singled out Hathaway; Screen Rant was the most enthusiastic, while Collider found it faithful to the book but too safe. The A.V. Club said the leads "fare better than past Hoovered actors" but that the film settles for "mere exercise".

In interviews, Hartnett said an intimacy coordinator "played a big part" and that Showalter kept the set fun. The Independent interviewed the cast and director about making a film as sexy as the book. Variety projects a $30 million to $35 million domestic opening from 3,510 theaters, a budget of $40 million, and notes reviews have been mixed. Fox News covered a viral premiere video of Hathaway directing photographers while debuting her baby bump.

Most outlets give a 2 October release; the Independent interview had said 1 October.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left6 outlets

Framing
Mostly critical trade and broadsheet reviews, plus a friendly cast interview and a box-office preview noting mixed reviews.
Emphasis
Tone, derivative plotting (comparisons to The Housemaid), the leads' performances, and commercial prospects.
Leaves out or plays down
Premiere and pregnancy coverage; the interview does not engage with negative reviews.
Charged language
“second-rate copy”“stodgy”“mere exercise”
For example
“Verity is a stodgy reminder you can’t just hit copy and paste on a film and hope for the best.” — The Independent
“Hathaway, Johnson, and Hartnett fare better than past Hoovered actors” — The A.V. Club

Centre5 outlets

Framing
Wide range of verdicts from enthusiasm to dismissal, plus an entertainment-news item on Hartnett's interview.
Emphasis
Hathaway's performance, camp potential, fidelity to the book, and how the cast worked together.
Leaves out or plays down
Box-office context and the premiere story.
Charged language
“Dead On Arrival”“Delightfully Terrifying”
For example
“Josh Hartnett shares steamy scenes with Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway on the set of Verity, and to make it happen, they used an intimacy coordinator.” — Deadline
“is a faithful adaptation of Colleen Hoover's thriller that still plays it too safe.” — Collider

Right2 outlets

Framing
One breezy review calling it sexy but predictable, and one lifestyle piece on Hathaway's viral premiere moment.
Emphasis
Genre familiarity; Hathaway's red carpet behaviour and pregnancy.
Leaves out or plays down
Filmmakers' aims, box office and the book-fidelity debate.
Charged language
“viral moment”
For example
“How many more outwardly perfect couples with immaculate, modern homes that conceal dark secrets can Hollywood possibly come up with?” — New York Post
“Anne Hathaway's viral red carpet video shows her directing photographers during the "Verity" premiere while debuting her baby bump in Prabal Gurung.” — Fox News