Critics Divided on Colleen Hoover's Psychological Thriller Adaptation 'Verity'

Hollywood loves a Colleen Hoover adaptation.

The latest is psychological thriller Verity.

In the film, struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is hired as a ghostwriter for renowned author Verity Crawford (Oscar winner Anne Hathaway).

It starts out as an assignment taken under mysterious circumstances, with Lowen recruited by Verity's husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett).

But when Lowen uncovers what appears to be chilling autobiographical confessions in Verity's notes, she wrestles with these disturbing and twisted revelations.

What are critics saying?

Verity is a glossy thriller punctuated by its beautiful people and slick presentation.

It's a fun watch that ends on a tantalising cliffhanger, which is almost as scandalous as it is unexpectedly satisfying.

But critics have both emphatically praised the film and have had scathing reactions.

The Sydney Morning Herald called Verity "perfect for these post-truth times".

Mamamia referred to it as a "delicious" thriller.

But The Nightly called it "diabolical", saying it was "embarrassing" for its A-list stars to be "dragged" into the film.

Who, meanwhile, has categorised it as a "straight to DVD territory" type of movie.

One of Hoover's biggest outings since It Ends with Us

As far as Hoover adaptations go, Verity comes after Reminders of Him (2026) and Regretting You (2025), but the internet is still talking about 2024's It Ends with Us.

That movie was overshadowed by the off-screen drama between its two stars, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

They have settled their legal battles in a civil case.

Lively had alleged Baldoni conspired with publicists to pre-emptively destroy her reputation after she privately accused him of sexually harassing her on the movie set.

Writing about writers

From Misery to Yellowface, books about writers are favourites among the authors who pen them, and audiences also love a behind-the-scenes look at the literary world.

It's fertile ground for novelists writing about a world they're familiar with, setting the stakes high in an imagined narrative.

The authentic details an author can bring to such a story are what make them so spicy and alluring as they blend reality and fiction.

Hoover is a trailblazer

Verity is based on the worldwide best-selling novel of the same name by Hoover.

In 2012, Hoover was the first self-published author to top The New York Times bestseller list, which she did again with Verity in 2018, and is a pioneer of modern indie publishing.

She has since had a great deal of mainstream success.

Verity was Hoover's first thriller.

She had already authored 16 romance books prior to that and amassed millions of fans.

In adapting the novel, director Michael Showalter aimed to produce a film as closely aligned with the book as possible.

"The book is a big hit, people love it, so let's make a movie out of the book," Showalter said.

"My approach was to do it the way it was in the book wherever possible.

"Let people see what a true adaptation would look and feel like and honour that."