Verity is Michael Showalter’s feature adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s psychological thriller. Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a writer brought to the Crawford estate to work in Verity Crawford’s place. Anne Hathaway plays Verity and Josh Hartnett plays her husband, Jeremy.
The writer and the manuscript
Lowen comes to the house to do a job. Finding material that appears to be autobiographical puts her in a different position, because she has to judge how much to believe about the family she is living with. If the scene you remember involves someone going through Verity’s papers, Lowen is the name to look for in the film’s cast and synopsis.
The manuscript is both an object in the story and a way to hear a version of what happened. Lowen has to decide what weight to give the writer, the way she tells the story and what she says about Jeremy. The tension starts with those questions and with Lowen having a professional reason to stay in the house.
Three names to match across the book and film
Lowen, Verity and Jeremy are the names to keep straight in a discussion. Add Johnson, Hathaway and Hartnett when you need the film. Showalter’s direction and the screenplay credits for Nick Antosca and Hoover also distinguish the 2026 feature from a book edition or an audiobook listing.
If a group is reading the novel and watching the film, agree on which medium you are discussing before asking about the manuscript. One person may be referring to a passage on the page while another is describing the way the same clue is presented on screen. A useful shared question is when each version first gives you reason to doubt what Lowen is reading.