Verity (15)

There’s plenty of style and intrigue to this seductive adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling thriller, where the truth is never quite what it seems.

Struggling writer Lowen (Dakota Johnson) accepts a lucrative job ghostwriting for bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who is incapacitated following a mysterious accident. Staying at the family’s remote Vermont home, Lowen grows close to Verity’s husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), while uncovering disturbing material that raises questions about the author’s past and the family’s secrets.

From the striking lakeside house to its stylish costumes and atmospheric flashbacks, there’s plenty of visual appeal. Hathaway makes a memorable impression despite spending much of the film in a near-catatonic state, while Hartnett brings a brooding charm to Jeremy. The story steadily builds its sense of unease, weaving together questions of trust, ambition and deception, with enough unexpected turns to keep audiences guessing. Its heightened melodrama and occasionally outlandish developments are very much part of the film’s appeal.

There is undoubtedly some trashy fun to be had here, and fans of Hoover’s work will find plenty to enjoy. Glossy, twisty and unapologetically dramatic