Dull, Slow, Dreary, and Drippy ‘Verity’ Is Unconvincing Absurd Thriller

Dull, Slow, Dreary, and Drippy ‘Verity’ Is Unconvincing Absurd Thriller

By Lynn Venhaus

Beware the unreliable narrator(s). Not giving any spoilers away, but “Verity” is turgid trash, and toys with truth, trust and too many twists to be a satisfying psychological thriller.

Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), hired to ghostwrite for wildly successful thriller novelist Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), uncovers what appears to be Verity’s autobiographical notes. She wrestles with the confessions about Verity’s husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett) and finds that separating fiction from reality is challenging.

Adapted by screenwriter Nick Antosca from simplistic novelist Colleen Hoover’s manipulative 2018 best-selling sensation, the movie has that same unconvincing plot formula with cliched characters and a left-field rushed conclusion. With a 1 hour, 58-minute run time, it is also slow and dull.

Most egregious is its hollow heroine Lowen, straining credibility because she is played by the blandest leading lady in Hollywood, Dakota Johnson (winner of not one, but two Golden Raspberry “Razzie” Awards for worst actress – “Madame Web” and “Fifty Shades of Grey”). 

Anne Hathaway, in flashback, as successful thriller writer Verity Crawford.

A nepo baby – her parents are Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, she has made some strong indies (“Peanut Butter Falcon” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth” succeeded because she could be lowkey in them). But her deadpan delivery is hard to warm up to, particularly in a supposedly sizzling affair.

Johnson’s monotone indifference is annoying because Lowen is a serious writer (sure, let’s believe this), who is good enough to be published but not read or known. She’s waiting in the wings, eager for her big break, and she has a backstory that’s never fully addressed.

When Lowen is conveniently at an intimate birthday dinner with her employer’s husband, she admits to having “resting bored face.” That’s not a stretch, but most of the dialogue is. And the logic throughout is absurd.

Thrown together, because we must have a forbidden love angle while the catatonic wife, in a wheelchair and bed-ridden, creates an overly emotional detour between Lowen and the handsome man of the house – you see that coming from the ‘meet-grisly-cute.’

Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett as strangers who meet through tragedy.

Oh, how bizarre. But blood, especially tawdry and titillating, is a recurring motif. So are bite marks. No vampires, however, were harmed in the making of this howl at the moon. We keep hearing about Verity’s vile villains she concocts in her lurid fiction – but in reality, her real-life is more disturbing. Or is it?

Hoover and company, desperately emulating “Gone Girl” with a touch of wannabe Daphne du Maurier, focuses on dark and sinister through characters’ ridiculous whispering and superficial seductiveness. 

Despite having Oscar winner Volker Bertelmann compose the score, the histrionic strings are so on-the-nose with ‘dun-dun-dun’ beats every time something is about to be revealed that it evokes laughter.

Unfortunately, this high-gloss schlock isn’t even a good way to have fun with pretty people being plastic, or a ‘hate-watch,’ with like-minded pals who enjoy snickering over faux raciness.

Verity and Jeremy meet.

Appearing grounded and unfailingly polite, Hartnett does what he can as family man Jeremy Crawford in a thoroughly thankless role. Now that he’s had a career resurgence, with “Trap,” “Oppenheimer,” and “The Bear,” it’s nice to see him play a hunky and caring dad, no matter how much he’s secretly hiding. Because aren’t all male characters in Hoover’s novels not what they appear to be? Dun-dun-dun!

After the disingenuous “It Ends with Us” in 2024, in which Hoover did survivors of domestic abuse no favors by triggering, without any warning, and trivializing toxic relationships, I was furious.

So, loath to try another one of her film adaptations, I changed my mind just to see if I was missing something. Oh no. My first impressions are correct about terrible writing. 

Are studio’s this desperate for content? Apparently so, because she sells a ton of books and movie tickets. Her “Regretting You” and “Reminders of Him” were box office hits. Are these forgettable airport/beach reads?

Ghostwriter Lowen Ashleigh in Verity’s office.

Director Michael Showalter, who directed Anne Hathaway’s charming, breezy romantic comedy “The Idea of You,” Jessica Chastain to an Oscar in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” and the superb Oscar-nominated “The Big Sick,” is at the helm, so what happened? 

Did he convince himself he could pull a Paul Feig and hit gold with “A Simple Favor” like success? Perhaps the twisted thriller genre isn’t a good fit, unlike his wildly popular comedies and ‘women’ pictures. Not only are the actions of all involved mostly ludicrous, but the shock values are insincere, especially the ending.

Nevertheless, Hathaway acquits herself by taking the campy route. Looking all glamorous in slinky red outfits and wearing fiery red lipstick, she ramps up the sex appeal as America’s most alluring novelist of popular pulp fiction. Oh look how fun she is on talk shows – and eating chicken wings on “The Hot Ones”!

She lowers her voice a husky register when she’s doing voice-overs of her unnerving autobiography that she left on a USB flash drive hidden in a cigarette box in her desk. Oh, Kathleen Turner in “Body Heat” has nothing on Hathaway here – or Barbara Stanwyck in “Double Indemnity.”

Incapacitated Verity (Anne Hathaway) outdoors in Vermont.

Fully committed as this mystery woman, Hathaway chews the scenery with menace in ‘before’ scenes while looking wan and lifeless, incapacitated by a car accident in ‘after’ scenes, to give a viable contrast. Remember her 15-minute Oscar-winning role as impoverished Fantine in “Les Miserables”?

She may be over-exposed this year in “The Odyssey,” “The End of Oak Street,” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” but she’s doing her best Miranda Priestly here in the sole portrayal that works (even if it’s not a shred realistic).

Now, she is bankable. So that’s the one saving grace in the “Verity” sad misfire that has too many unresolved issues and too little to recommend.

“Verity” is a 2026 psychological thriller directed by Michael Showalter and starring Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett. It is Rated R for sexual content, some nudity, language, violence and bloody images, and the run time is 1 hour, 58-minutes. It opens in theatres Oct. 2. Lynn’s Grade: D.

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Is Bold, Breathtaking and Brilliant

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Is Bold, Breathtaking and Brilliant

By Lynn Venhaus

A voyage for the ages. Writer-director Christopher Nolan has made the ultimate heroic action-adventure epic in “The Odyssey” — as bold, breathtaking and brilliant as only he could, aided by his virtuoso technical masters.

Nolan has thoughtfully adapted Homer’s epic poem to be both colossal in scope and intimate, mythical and human. This enthralling ancient Greek journey, from some 2,700 years ago, emphasized the cost of a barbaric war, the chaos that ensued, breaking Zeus’ law, bad decisions, and reconciling with your failures to move forward and get back home.

After ten years of the Trojan War, King Odysseus (Matt Damon) faces a dangerous voyage back home to Ithaca, including deadly monsters and vengeful gods. Along the way, he meets mythical creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Calypso (Charlize Theron). In the meantime, his loyal wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) waits at home, and his son Telemachus (Tom Holland) tries to find out if he’s still alive.

The way Nolan cinematically unfolded the story, in a non-linear style, in 2 hours and 52 minutes, feels just right, sweeping us away on the journey he wanted to tell. Basically, it’s a man trying to get home. The war took 10 years, and his way back took another 10.

Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus.

In a career-best performance, Matt Damon leads an exceptional megawatt cast in the physically grueling, demanding portrayal of Odysseus. The bench is so deep that some familiar faces get minimal screen time, but their characters are part of this rich tapestry that Nolan has precisely threaded to convey one of western literature’s greatest sagas. They are part of a massive theatrical event that eventually will be considered a pinnacle.

Nolan has smartly showcased these grand themes – love, honor, war, greed, gods and monsters — and the cast immerses us in its emotional depth to make us care, particularly Tom Holland as Telemachus, heir to the throne, who is trying to find his way in the shadow of his father, and wants to honor him by not giving up. Holland’s heart shines through in his character’s nobility.

Meanwhile, Ithaca has become a cesspool of hangers-on and posers, as suitors crowd the palace to curry favor with Penelope. It’s exactly what Odysseus did not want to happen.

Four outstanding actresses, three Oscar winners and one two-time Emmy winner, are mesmerizing on screen in their iconic roles: Anne Hathaway is Penelope, Odysseus’ loyal queen and great love; Charlize Theron is Calypso, a sea nymph who falls in love with him, holding him hostage on the island of Ogygia; and Zendaya is Athena, the goddess of wisdom and his protector. In very brief roles, Lupita Nyong’o is Helen of Troy, and her twin sister, Clytemnestra.

Matt Damon and Zendaya.

Standouts include John Leguizamo as his faithful servant Eumaeus, now blind; Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, a Greek king who fights alongside Odysseus, and the husband of Helen; Elliot Page as loyal servant Sinon, who is sacrificed for the war victory; Samantha Morton as the witch Circe; Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, Odysseus’ right-hand man; and Robert Pattinson as the weaselly villain, arrogant Antinous, one of Penelope’s most manipulative and power-hungry suitors.

The sprawling cast also includes Benny Safdie as the imposing Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek army, Travis Scott as a bard, Mia Goth as the queen’s servant Melantho, and both Corey Hawkins and Logan Marshall-Green are bad guys teaming up with Antinous.

The master filmmaker, Oscar winner for his magnum opus “Oppenheimer,” seems to be hitting his stride tailoring stunning vistas in six countries and composing visual spectacles on IMAX cameras, the first feature film to do so. His practical effects, rather than computer-generated images, are magnificent here. The man-eating Cyclops. a massive 60-foot puppet, is terrifying, and the underworld scene, where the dead rise out of the black sand, is stunning.

Robert Pattinson as Antinous.

Along with visionary cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, the world-building by production designer Ruth DeJong and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, is grand and splendid, impeccable in details.

Oscar winning editor Jennifer Lame (“Oppenheimer”) had a gargantuan task, and she made the film a lucid, thrilling watch. Swedish composer Ludwig Goransson, three-time Oscar winner (“Black Panther,” “Oppenheimer,” “Sinners”), has written an urgent, industrial score that heightens the action.

One must experience this tsunami of an epic in a theater, in full big screen glory. “The Odyssey” is to be savored and celebrated, for this is movie making at its absolute finest.

Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland.

(NOTE: It doesn’t matter whether you’ve read The Odyssey — or like me, forgotten most of what you learned about it in high school, but it helps to get a refresher beforehand, and there are plenty of sources around to get you up to speed.)

“The Odyssey” is a 2026 action-adventure-fantasy epic written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Zendaya, John Leguizamo, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Hamish Patel, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Benny Safdie, Mia Goth, Travis Scott, Corey Hawkins and Logan Marshall-Green. It is rated R for violence and some language and runtime is 2 hours, 52 minutes. It opens in theaters July 17. Lynn’s Grade: A+



Breathtaking Style Dominates David Lowery’s Latest ‘Mother Mary’

Breathtaking Style Dominates David Lowery’s Latest ‘Mother Mary’

By Alex McPherson

Stunning, beguiling, and wholeheartedly its own thing, director David Lowery’s “Mother Mary” is a polarizing experience where pretentiousness is part of the charm.

This gothic-horror-romance-pop-song-chamber-drama follows the titular Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway), a world-famous, Taylor-Swift-adjacent popstar preparing a comeback tour after she experiences a harrowing onstage accident that we get a split-second glimpse of in the film’s opening moments.

Mary is exhausted and a hollowed-out shell of her former self. She has a panic attack during a costume fitting and rushes to the English countryside to make a surprise visit to her former best friend and costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel). Sam harbors palpable resentment after being ghosted (no pun intended) 10 years ago. 

Mary is desperate for Sam to make her a dress for the tour so she can “be herself” and find “clarity.” Sam — with a prickly, slyly wolfish demeanor — agrees to take on the challenge. She also sees an opportunity for Mary to address past wrongs in their professional and personal relationship.

Within a foreboding barn-turned-workshop, Sam and Mary get to work, with Sam gradually unspooling years of resentment. Social niceties give way to daggers (and scissors) as the two confront the end of their creative partnership:

Sam’s tireless work to support Mary’s celebrity persona has largely gone unrecognized; the pressures of fame and of constantly being in the spotlight have taken a massive toll on Mary’s psyche and eroded her sense of self. Still, there’s work to be done and a deadline to meet. At least, until things get trippily metaphysical.

Yep, this is definitely a film by the director of “The Green Knight” and “A Ghost Story.” It floats along on its own visually astounding wavelength that never loosens its grip on its insistence for weirdness.

“Mother Mary” is ultimately a difficult experience to pin down — unimpeachable in its craft elements and its central performances, but strangely simplistic in what the narrative boils down to: a whole lot of stylistic extravagance for a story whose emotional beats feel oddly schematic.

Still, Lowery’s latest is a bizarre experience made with such conviction that even when the story’s reach exceeds its grasp, the mesmerizing, phantasmagorical, genre-bending style never loses its impact. “Mother Mary” demands to be watched on the big screen.

It’s filled with gorgeous costumes, eardrum-busting concert numbers (featuring songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX, and FKA Twigs), intensely intimate drama, gnarly horror, and spectral beauty, where the past elegantly blends with the present. 

The shadow-drenched barn becomes a portal to Mary and Sam’s history and imaginations, where their spiritual connection to each other is realized in ways both deeply earnest and unnerving. “Mother Mary” renders the force between the women literal as they each grapple with the weights of their connection and regrets; Daniel Hart’s score’s pulsing bass resembles a beating heart.

Hathaway and Coel are wholly up for Lowery’s wild swings, with Coel in particular commanding her every second onscreen. Cinematographers Rina Yang and Andrew Droz Palermo often frame her in close-up;

Coel’s face almost seems alien at times, her character’s sharp features, deep voice, and acid tongue intimidating and imposing (and sometimes darkly funny), although Sam herself is a heartbroken soul searching desperately for closure. 

Hathaway gives an equally excellent performance as the tormented celebrity. We see the years of expectations and regrets weighing her down, and her embracing a completely different persona onstage amid blinding lights and screaming fans.

One of the film’s best sequences involves Mary showing Sam her dance routine without music — monstrous and animalistic, hinting at the film’s increasingly supernatural influences.

It’s frustrating that “Mother Mary” doesn’t make the characters’ journeys quite as resonant. Indeed, while the film is – mostly – enigmatic to its benefit, Mary and Sam are too thinly-sketched as characters for their relationship to have the emotional thrust “Mother Mary” insists it does.

The main appeal is seeing just what elaborately hallucinatory set-piece Lowery has in store next, rather than investment in their (bluntly-spelled-out) inner battles. The film is so sincere, so earnest, about matters of the heart, but it opts for spectacle, which betrays the more nuanced drama that would truly let viewers into Mary and Sam’s worlds.

So, “Mother Mary” is a bit of a mixed bag, albeit one that deserves to be celebrated nevertheless — creativity and eccentricity like this should be supported, whether or not it fully lands. It’s a beautiful mess.

“Mother Mary” is a 2026 dramatic music thriller written and directed by David Lowery starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Kaia Gerber, Hunter Schafer. and FKA twigs,, Its runtime is 1 hour, 52 minutes, and it is rated R for some violent content and language. It opened in theatres April 24. Alex’s Grade: B+.