Verity is a psychological thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s 2018 novel, directed by Michael Showalter and in US theaters since October 2, 2026. Anne Hathaway plays Verity Crawford, Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh and Josh Hartnett plays Jeremy Crawford. It is not a true story, and the ending deliberately leaves open who is telling the truth.
Last updated on October 22, 2026. The ending section contains spoilers and is marked below.
| Question | Answer |
| Release date | October 2, 2026, in US theaters |
| Distributor | Amazon MGM Studios (North America) |
| Director | Michael Showalter |
| Based on | “Verity,” Colleen Hoover’s 2018 novel |
| Stars | Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett |
| Runtime | Just under two hours |
| Opening weekend | $32.6 million, No. 1 at the US box office (October 2 to 4) |
| Critics | About a third of Rotten Tomatoes reviews were positive at opening |
| Where to watch | Theaters only. No streaming or digital date has been announced |
| Actor | Character | Who they are |
| Anne Hathaway | Verity Crawford | A bestselling thriller author recovering from a serious accident |
| Dakota Johnson | Lowen Ashleigh | A struggling writer hired to finish Verity’s book series |
| Josh Hartnett | Jeremy Crawford | Verity’s husband |
Lowen Ashleigh is a writer who is barely getting by when she is hired to finish the remaining books in a bestselling series by Verity Crawford, who cannot work after an accident. While going through Verity’s papers at the family’s Vermont home, Lowen finds a hidden manuscript in which Verity describes what appears to be a confession. Lowen has to decide what to do with what she has read.
Spoiler warning: everything below describes the final act and the last scene.
Lowen tells Jeremy about the manuscript, which describes Verity harming their daughter, and says she believes Verity has been faking her condition. Jeremy confronts Verity and finds that she has recovered. In a rage he kills her while Lowen watches and does not stop him. The two then make the death look like an accident.
Months later, Lowen finds a letter that Verity hid under a floorboard. In it, Verity says the manuscript was a coping exercise and pure fiction, written after her daughter’s death. She says Jeremy read it, believed it, and staged a car crash to kill her. When that failed, she pretended to be catatonic until she could get away with her son, Crew. The film ends after Lowen reads it, without confirming which account is true.
The film does not say, and audiences have split into “Team Manuscript” and “Team Letter.” The case for the manuscript is that Verity could have written the letter to clear herself. The case for the letter is that Verity wrote fiction from villains’ points of view, and that Jeremy’s grief and rage could have driven him to violence. Hoover has said she is “Team Manuscript.” Lowen’s understanding of the family may rest on a story she accepted too quickly, which is the point the ending leaves you with.
Several endings were considered for the movie. Variety reported that an earlier version was darker and that the ending changed after focus group screenings. Hoover has said she saw about seven different endings before the final one was chosen.
The movie keeps the central question of the novel: whether Verity’s manuscript or her final letter is the truth. One change is to the family. The film drops one of the Crawford children, Chastain, which leaves Crew and Harper. Hoover has said the novel is told from Lowen’s point of view, which is why she says she felt as unsure as Lowen does.
No. Verity is fiction, adapted from Hoover’s 2018 novel of the same name.
Verity is only in theaters. Amazon MGM Studios has not announced a digital rental or Prime Video date, and we will add one here when it does. See our guides to other movies people are searching for now, including the Street Fighter movie guide, the Resident Evil cast guide and the Animals ending explained for a movie you can stream at home, plus the Netflix Top 10 this week.
Yes. It is based on Colleen Hoover’s 2018 novel of the same name.
Anne Hathaway plays Verity Crawford, Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh and Josh Hartnett plays Jeremy Crawford.
No. It is a fictional thriller.
Yes. In the climax Jeremy kills her, and Lowen watches and helps cover it up. The final scene then raises the question of whether she was the villain the manuscript describes.
The film does not confirm either. Colleen Hoover has said she is Team Manuscript, but viewers are split.
No streaming or digital date has been announced. Verity opened in theaters on October 2, 2026.
$32.6 million, the No. 1 spot at the US box office for October 2 to 4, 2026.
Photo credits: Anne Hathaway by Jay Dixit (CC BY-SA 4.0), Dakota Johnson by Harald Krichel (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Josh Hartnett by JoshPopov (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons. If you are the rights holder of an image on this page and would like it removed, see our terms of service or contact us and we will act promptly.
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