The First Look At Verity Is Here In All its Spicy, Bloody, Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway Glory

Of the numerous book-to-screen adaptations arriving in theaters this year, the Verity movie from Michael Showalter has to be one of the most anticipated. The popular (to put it mildly) psychological thriller novel written by Colleen Hoover is a real page-turner, and given this first glimpse of the film (finally!), which shows Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway in the lead roles, it looks like we're about to be on the edge of our seats for this one when it arrives on the 2026 movie schedule later this year. .

Dakota Johnson reading a book in Verity

(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

What Verity Is About

Verity centers on a writer named Lowen (Dakota Johnson), who's hired to ghostwrite Verity Crawford's book because she's unwell. Lowen isn't just helping out with the writing, she's living with Verity (Anne Hathaway), her husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett) and their child while she sorts through the author's notes. During the process, Lowen comes across a manuscript of Verity's that may be autobiographical and contains some very dark, unsettling content, which leads her to question what's true about these people.

Dakota Johnson sitting on the floor going through papers in Verity

(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

The Teaser Trailer Doesn't Hold Back

As you can see from the teaser trailer, things heat up in this story as Lowen gets to know the people she's living with and working for. The mystery surrounding the manuscript is just part of the drama that unfolds in this mysterious and thrilling tale.

The teaser gives us a glimpse of a spicy moment between Lowen and Jeremy, which turns into a scary, bloody moment between Lowen and Verity, and that's really just the start of the chaos. Darkness ahead... indeed!

Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett dressed up and smiling in Verity

(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

The Latest Colleen Hoover Adaptation

Verity is the next in line among the numerous Colleen Hoover adaptations we've seen in recent years. It follows It Ends With Us, Regretting You and, most recently, Reminders of Him, all of which are based on stand alone novels from the popular author. While Verity is also a stand-alone novel, it also stands out among these other titles in terms of the tone. While there is romance involved in the story, Verity is very much a psychological thriller. (I spent every page of the book needing to know what was true and what wasn't, and how it was all going to end. Based on the teaser, I think we're in for a similar experience with the film.)

If we're looking at recent book adaptations, beyond appealing to those who loved Hoover's book, I have a feeling this one will appeal to those who liked the adaptation of Freida McFadden's The Housemaid.

We still have months to go before Verity hits theaters. The film arrives on October 2, 2026. That gives you plenty of time to read the book, if you haven't already!

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Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly put her life-long love of movies, TV and books to greater use when she joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006, and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before joining the staff full-time in 2011 and moving over to other roles at the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing features, analyzing site data, working with writers and editors on content planning and the workflow, and (of course) continuing to obsess over the best movies and TV shows (those that already exist, and the many on the way). She graduated from SUNY Cortland with BA in Communication Studies and a minor in Cinema Studies. When she isn't working, she's probably thinking about work, or reading (or listening to a book), and making sure her cats are living their absolute best feline lives.

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