Review: 'Verity' is Anne Hathaway's show — too bad the film is afraid of its own poison

This is an opinion review. 'Verity,' Amazon MGM's thriller directed by Michael Showalter, hits U.S. theaters this Friday (Oct. 2) with an irresistible premise: a struggling writer (Dakota Johnson) agrees to finish the books of a famous author (Anne Hathaway) and, at the family's mansion, finds disturbing autobiographical notes that blur fiction, manipulation and reality.

The best thing about the film is Hathaway. She embraces the excess and delivers an icy, fun villain, and even negative critics acknowledge her commitment; the mansion's production design also helps set the mood. The problem is that whenever she leaves the frame, everything cools off: Johnson and Josh Hartnett have little chemistry, and the story recalls 'Gone Girl' too closely without the same daring.

Critics are split, with Rotten Tomatoes sitting around 43% to 44% on the eve of release. At Variety, Guy Lodge called it an 'overwrought and underplotted' dud; at The Hollywood Reporter, Richard Lawson said it is neither sexy nor smart. Others, like ScreenRant, call it the best Hoover adaptation yet — praise that, frankly, says a lot about the previous ones.

In the end, 'Verity' works as a Friday-night guilty pleasure, ideally in a packed theater, but it's a film that doesn't trust its own madness. Had Showalter leaned harder into the camp, horror and eroticism the story calls for, Hathaway would have the movie she deserves.

Score: 6/10