Colleen Hoover's Verity is set to chronicle a thrilling story about unlocking a terrifying truth about motherhood, marriage, and an unexpected murder. Based on Hoover's best-selling novel of the same name, Verity follows the story of Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who hired a struggling writer, Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), to finish her bestselling novel after she was left incapacitated by a car accident.
Lowen had to relocate to the remote Crawford estate to finish the job, leading her to uncover Verity's chilling autobiographical notes that expose uncomfortable truths about Verity's husband, Jeremy (played by Trap star Josh Hartnett).
Directed by Michael Showalter, Verity also stars Ismael Cruz Cordova and Brady Wagner. The movie will premiere in theaters on October 2.
Every Major Spoiler for Verity, According to the Book
Lowen is Invited to the Crawfords' Home
At the center of Verity is Lowen Ashleigh, whose life changed forever after witnessing a gruesome accident where a passerby was hit by a truck. What made things worse for Lowen is the fact that she was already grieving her mother's recent death and at a crossroads in her career as a writer.
As it turned out, Lowen is also an author of thrillers, but she has been suffering from severe writer's block and deep financial troubles. Upon witnessing the accident, Lowen didn't really register what happened, even though she was soaked with the victim's blood.
Jeremy Crawford, Verity's husband, swooped in to help her, leading to an immediate and passionate connection between the pair. Jeremy offered Lowen a life-changing opportunity: ghostwrite the remaining books in his wife's popular, long-running series because she was left incapacitated after a car accident. Lowen agreed, noting that she respects Verity so much for her compelling stories written from the villain's perspective. This is on top of the enormous sum the Crawfords are proposing to pay her, which could answer her financial woes.
A still extremely nervous Lowen agreed to move in temporarily in the Crawford family home, sorting through Verity's office and trying to get inspiration to continue her writing based on the author's style.
Verity and Jeremy's Daughters Died in Accidents
While trying to learn about Verity's work and writing style, she unexpectedly uncovered an unpublished autobiography of Verity's, titled So Be It, that pulled back the curtain on secrets about her and her family's lives.
This manuscript mainly paints Verity as a deeply flawed narrator grappling with extreme trauma, resentment, and moral darkness. All of these were anchored by the deaths of her twin daughters, Chastin and Harper.
So Be It revealed that Chastin, the twin Verity openly favored, died when she was 8 years old from a severe peanut allergy reaction during a sleepover. Verity, though, didn't portray it as a simple accident because she convinced herself in her own twisted way that Harper (the less favored twin) deliberately caused her sister's death.
The grief and her hatred toward Harper consumed her, with Verity believing that her actual daughter is a threat. Chastin's death essentially kick-started the family's downfall, but it didn't end there.
Six months later, Verity has had enough of Harper's existence, and the manuscript claims she reached a breaking point of resentment and revenge against her own daughter (which is kind of sick and twisted). Verity took Harper and her son, Crew, on a canoe ride in the family lake, even though she knew her daughter couldn't swim.
Harper deliberately capsized the boat to stage it as a tragic accident, leaving Harper to drown. So Be It framed this act as her emotional unraveling, treating it as a way to save their family by eliminating Harper, whom she saw as a flaw in their perfect image.
Jeremy eventually confronted Verity about what happened to Harper, leading to a mental breakdown for the already-vulnerable author. Overwhelmed by guilt and fear of losing Jeremy, Verity crashed her car in what appears to be a suicide attempt. This is the same accident that left Verity incapacitated, which led to Lowen's arrival in the Crawfords' lives.
Lowen and Jeremy Start a Love Affair
Following the already romance-fueled meet-cute after the accident, Lowen had grown extremely fond of Jeremy while living in the Crawfords, especially after seeing him shirtless and attentive toward her needs.
Lowen's attraction to Jeremy would further be amplified after reading the So Be It manuscript because it includes extremely graphic, obsessive sex scenes featuring Verity and Jeremy during the peak of their relationship. As expected, Lowen fantasized about Jeremy as if he were hers.
The fact that they are both grieving drew them closer together, culminating in Jeremy finally opening up about his grief over losing his twin daughters. The tension eventually came to a head on Lowen's birthday, when they shared a passionate kiss that turned into something more.
Lowen recreated elements of Verity and Jeremy's past sexual encounters, but of course, anchored with a complex moral ambiguity.
Lowen and Jeremy continued their affair, but she had yet to tell Jeremy about the manuscript she had found (this plot is eerily similar to Sydney Sweeney's The Housemaid, but with an author-infused twist).
Verity is Killed by Jeremy
Verity's climactic finish involved Lowen being suspicious for a while that Verity was faking the severity of her injuries. She had been noticing odd signs, such as small behaviors that really don't align with a vegetative state. As a result, Lowen installed a baby monitor and scoured through house cameras to watch Verity more closely.
Convinced that Verity is faking her injuries, Lowen tried to act as a hero by showing Jeremy the full manuscript, urging him to read what truly happened about Harper's death. When Jeremy confronted Verity about the truth, Verity dropped a major bombshell about her condition; yes, she has been conscious and faking everything the entire time.
A furious Jeremy exploded in rage, strangling Verity while Lowen tried to stop him. However, Lowen hesitated because her feelings toward Jeremy clouded her judgment, and she didn't want him to go to prison. Instead, Lowen told Jeremy to make it look like Verity died of natural causes.
Lowen, who appeared to have slowly transformed into a version of Verity, suggested to Jeremy to force Verity to vomit, then suffocate her to complete the act. Doing this "accident" would be consistent with her condition, with inhalation pneumonia as the cause of death.
The Truth About So Be It
After staging Verity's death, it actually worked, and they moved on with their lives. Lowen and Jeremy profess their love to one another and have a child of their own. However, this was not as simple as it sounded because another twist came-a-knocking.
The book jumps forward in time, showing Lowen and her new family with Jeremy, suggesting a fresh start for their lives. While packing up the Vermont house one last time before their eventual move, Lowen found a hidden handwritten letter from Verity, tucked beneath the floorboards in the office.
This letter, addressed to Jeremy, was written shortly after the car accident, insisting that So Be It was entirely fictional and that she was actually trying to escape from Jeremy with Crew after Jeremy crashed the car to kill Verity.
In the letter, Verity revealed that So Be It was a writing exercise to practice getting inside the mind of a villain, which is right up there with the complex novels that feature her writing style. Verity claimed that she loved both Harper and Chastin, and she didn't murder Harper. Both their deaths were simply tragic accidents.
The car crash was actually not her suicide attempt. Jeremy already knew about the manuscript before Lowen even arrived. Believing the manuscript was a real confession, Jeremy staged Verity's car accident and fled the scene.
Verity said that she miraculously survived with minimal permanent damage but chose to fake the full extent of her brain injury. She wanted to stay incapacitated to find an opening to escape with Crew and get away from Jeremy for good.
A shocked Lowen is left contemplating the truth; one possibility is that Jeremy is the real monster, the manuscript is a red herring, and Verity is the actual victim. The other is that the letter is another manipulation tactic from Verity, intended to clear her of wrongdoing. Ultimately, Verity destroys the letter on the spot, choosing to bury the truth forever and protect the life they've built.
