Verity Trailer Reaction: Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson Lean Into a Dark Horror Vibe for the Colleen Hoover Adaptation

Published 17 August 2026. Words like "tonight" or "next week" refer to that date.

The trailer for Verity is finally here, and I can barely believe it is real after how long this adaptation was reportedly in conversation before getting made. It stars Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett as the three leads, and it opened in theaters on October 2. The trailer had already hit 1.8 million views just nine hours after posting, and I think the whole book club showed up for it.

My overall verdict is that this trailer nailed the tone I was hoping for. "That was actually the exact vibe I was hoping for and I think they went to even a little bit more darker than I thought it was going to be, which I really appreciate," I said while watching. I liked how they leaned into the horror side of the story rather than softening it, and I was into Anne Hathaway's voice work in the confession and autobiography lines, calling it "a little bit terrifying."

Anne Hathaway being cast as Verity is a big part of my excitement, especially given how much she has going on right now. I pointed out that this feels like her year, between The Odyssey, The End of Oak Street where I said she was fantastic, and The Devil Wears Prada, all while she is also about to have a baby. As I put it, "you know, I love it."

The one thing that gave me a little pause was association with one of Dakota Johnson's other films with a darker vibe, Fifty Shades, though I noted Verity's darker tone is not quite the same. I admitted I never finished reading the Fifty Shades books, saying I read the first one and was done, but I said I like the Verity book a lot and think it is completely different. My hope is that this new film ends up better than that comparison suggests.

My biggest concern going forward is whether the movie can sustain this dark horror thriller tone all the way through rather than just using it for the trailer. I brought up It Ends with Us as a cautionary example, a Colleen Hoover book I also liked that I felt the film adaptation could not fully capture, even though I acknowledged that book and this one are completely different in characters and story, with different directors involved. For anyone who has not read Verity, my suggestion is to watch the movie first and let it play out, while book readers will know what to expect. Fingers crossed it holds that vibe the whole way through.