Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson’s ‘Verity’ sets release date in thrilling first trailer
Amazon MGM Studios has released a new trailer for 'Verity,' pulling Dakota Johnson’s Lowen Ashleigh into the unsettling world of Anne Hathaway’s Verity Crawford. The footage opens with Lowen questioning Jeremy Crawford, played by Josh Hartnett, about why his wife can no longer finish her successful book series. Jeremy then introduces Verity and tells Lowen, “Doctors don't think she'll ever walk or talk again.” When he offers Lowen the job of completing the final novel, she hesitates because Verity’s readers know the author’s voice too well.
The film will be released in theaters worldwide on October 2. Michael Showalter directs a screenplay by Nick Antosca and Colleen Hoover, adapting Hoover’s bestselling 2018 psychological thriller. The cast also includes Brady Wagner as Crew Crawford, Asel Swango as Frida, and Daniel Echevarria as Alex. The new footage arrives after an earlier teaser offered only a brief glimpse of the movie’s central mystery.
The official synopsis reads: “Adapted from Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel, this seductive, psychological thriller follows renowned author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) and Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), a struggling writer who relocates to the remote Crawford estate to ghostwrite for Verity. After Lowen uncovers what appears to be Verity's chilling autobiographical notes, she wrestles with the disturbing and twisted confessions about Verity’s husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and finds it hard to separate fiction from reality, manipulation from attraction, and opportunity from obsession.”
The trailer gives those autobiographical notes a menacing voice as Verity declares, “This is my confession. My autobiography. A writer's words should be honest… She finishes the thought over increasingly disturbing images: “...and bloody... and a little bit terrifying.” The footage also places Lowen and Jeremy’s growing attraction at the heart of the danger surrounding the Crawford estate. Verity’s narration adds another warning about her marriage. It says, “I was his drug... and he was mine.”
Lowen’s confidence begins to collapse as she spends more time at home. “This place is insane. I feel like I'm losing my mind,” she says before the trailer hints that Verity may be more aware of events than Jeremy believes. In one frantic moment, Lowen insists, “She was standing right there, Jeremy! Say something. Say something!” The trailer stops short of confirming what Lowen has seen, preserving the mystery at the center of Hoover’s story. It closes with Verity delivering an ominous message: “This is your final warning. Only darkness ahead.”