Book · 2018
Movie · 2026
Book vs movie
Verity: book vs movie
How the 2026 movie Verity (directed by Michael Showalter) changes the book by Colleen Hoover.
The verdict
Keeps the main plot and the outline of the ending, but cuts one child, Lowen's sleepwalking and the darkest manuscript scenes, and plays the story with more camp.
Every difference
Point of view
On the pageLowen narrates in the first person. Whole chapters of Verity's manuscript appear as text, so the reader shares Lowen's doubts.
On screenThe manuscript plays as flashbacks, with Anne Hathaway reading it in voiceover. Verity has a stronger presence than the silent figure in the book.
The Crawford children
On the pageVerity and Jeremy have twin daughters, Harper and Chastin, and a younger son, Crew. Both girls die before the story begins.
On screenChastin does not exist. Harper and Crew are twins, so the family has one loss fewer in its past.
Lowen's sleepwalking
On the pageLowen is a chronic sleepwalker. She wakes in places she does not remember going, which makes her unreliable even to herself.
On screenThe sleepwalking is cut. Lowen drinks and takes pills instead.
The manuscript's content
On the pageVerity describes trying to end her twin pregnancy with a coat hanger, which explains a scar on one daughter's face, and trying to smother a baby daughter.
On screenThe coat hanger passage is cut. The attempt to smother the baby stays.
Lowen's feelings about Verity
On the pageLowen is mostly appalled by Verity and what the manuscript describes.
On screenLowen also envies Verity. She wears a red dress like Verity's to a birthday dinner with Jeremy, and a fantasy scene shows her kissing Verity.
Verity's fame
On the pageThe book says little about Verity's public life or how she promotes her books.
On screenVerity appears as a guest on Call Her Daddy and Hot Ones, which shows how famous she is.
Verity's death and the cover-upSpoiler
On the pageJeremy kills Verity in her bed, and the death passes as a result of her injuries. The story then jumps ahead months.
On screenJeremy and Lowen sink Verity's body in the lake where Harper died to fake a drowning. An added scene shows them talking to the police.
The hidden letterSpoiler
On the pageLowen reads Verity's letter and destroys it. Verity's side exists only as the words on the page.
On screenLowen keeps the letter, and it is still in her pocket when the movie ends. The last scene is an interview clip of Verity talking about how writing can bend the truth.
The comparison
Verity book vs movie: the short answer
Verity (2026) is a psychological thriller directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay by Nick Antosca. Amazon MGM Studios released it in US theaters on October 2, 2026, after a premiere in London on September 24. It runs 117 minutes. Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, Anne Hathaway plays Verity Crawford and Josh Hartnett plays Jeremy Crawford.
The movie keeps the novel's main story and the outline of its ending. A struggling writer moves into the Crawford house in Vermont to finish Verity's series, finds a secret autobiography and falls for Verity's husband. The changes are in the details. The movie removes one of the Crawford children, cuts Lowen's sleepwalking, tones down the worst of the manuscript and adds scenes that make Lowen's obsession with Verity easier to see. The tone also moves. Several critics say it sits uneasily between erotic thriller and camp.
How close the movie stays
The setup is the same. Lowen is a broke New York writer. She sees a man die in the street, meets Jeremy that day and takes the job. The Crawford house is a remote lakeside home in Vermont. Verity lies in bed after a car crash and appears unable to move or speak. Lowen reads the manuscript and starts to suspect that Verity is more aware than she seems.
The biggest difference is point of view. The novel is told by Lowen in the first person, with full chapters of the manuscript in Verity's voice. The reader is locked inside Lowen's head and her doubts. The movie cannot do that. Instead, the manuscript plays as flashbacks, with Hathaway reading it in voiceover. That gives Verity a stronger presence on screen than she has on the page, where she is mostly a silent figure in a bed.
Reviews were mixed to negative, and few of them judged how faithful the movie is. Variety's Guy Lodge says it has no feel for the erotic thriller. TheWrap says it flirts with camp.
The biggest changes
One child fewer. In the book, Verity and Jeremy have twin daughters, Harper and Chastin, and a younger son, Crew. Both girls die before the story begins. The movie removes Chastin and makes Harper and Crew twins. The family's past loses one tragedy, and the manuscript has less to explain.
No sleepwalking. Book Lowen is a chronic sleepwalker. She wakes in places she does not remember going, which makes her an unreliable witness even to herself. Dakota Johnson said the sleepwalking scenes were shot but did not work on screen. The movie gives Lowen other reasons to doubt herself: she drinks and takes pills.
A milder manuscript. The movie keeps Verity's account of trying to smother her baby daughter. It cuts her account of trying to end her pregnancy with a coat hanger. In the book, that passage explains a scar on one daughter's face, and readers use the scar as evidence when they argue about whether the manuscript is true.
Lowen wants Verity's life. Book Lowen is mostly appalled by Verity. Movie Lowen also envies her. For a birthday dinner at a restaurant with Jeremy, she wears a red dress like the one Verity wore when she first caught his eye. The movie also adds a fantasy scene in which Lowen kisses Verity.
Verity is a celebrity. The book says little about Verity's public life. The movie shows her as a guest on Call Her Daddy and Hot Ones to make clear how famous she is.
Smaller cuts. Lowen's pen name, Laura Chase, is gone. In the book, Jeremy helps her invent it so she can stay out of the publicity.
Spoilers: the ending
This section reveals the ending of the book and the movie.
The outline is the same in both. The manuscript confesses that Verity caused Harper's drowning. Lowen gives it to Jeremy. Jeremy confronts Verity, finds that she can move and speak, and kills her. Months later, Lowen is pregnant with Jeremy's child. She finds a hidden letter in which Verity says the manuscript was a writing exercise and that Jeremy tried to kill her. Lowen does not show the letter to Jeremy.
The differences are in how each version gets there.
- The killing and the cover-up. In the book, Jeremy kills Verity in her bed, and the death passes as a result of her injuries. The book then skips ahead months. In the movie, Jeremy and Lowen sink Verity's body in the lake where Harper died, so the death looks like a drowning. The movie adds a scene in which the two talk to the police, and no one questions their story.
- The letter. In the movie, the letter says that Jeremy staged the car crash to kill Verity. In the book, Lowen destroys the letter. In the movie, she keeps it. Michael Showalter has said that it is still in her pocket when the movie ends.
- The last word. The book ends with Lowen's choice and her own thoughts. The movie ends on an interview clip of Verity, who talks about how a writer can bend the truth.
- A cut ending. The production shot a different twist ending. Test audiences did not like it, so it was cut.
The balance changes. The book ends inside Lowen's head, and the letter is gone. In the movie, the letter still exists, and the last face on screen is Verity's. The closing clip works as a reminder about storytelling, not as proof. Neither version settles which document is true.
Book or movie first?
Read the book first if you want the full puzzle. The novel works through Lowen's unreliable narration and the long manuscript chapters, and the movie compresses both. The book also holds details readers use to argue about the ending, such as the scar on one daughter's face. Watch the movie first if you want the story in two hours and do not mind fewer clues. Both versions contain sexual content and violence against children.