Thescreescore – The highly anticipated psychological thriller Verity, a cinematic adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, has premiered to a lukewarm critical reception, continuing a challenging trend for big-screen interpretations of the prolific author’s work. Directed by Michael Showalter, known for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and featuring a star-studded cast including Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, and Josh Hartnett, the film currently holds a "Rotten" score on Rotten Tomatoes, raising questions about its commercial prospects despite its high-profile pedigree.
Opening in theaters on October 2, 2026, Verity plunges audiences into the unsettling world of Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson), a struggling writer hired to ghostwrite for the incapacitated, famed author Verity Crawford (Hathaway). As Lowen delves into Verity’s life and her unfinished manuscripts, she uncovers a dark, seductive, and potentially dangerous web involving Verity and her enigmatic husband, Jeremy Crawford (Hartnett). The film’s intricate narrative, however, has failed to captivate critics universally. With 28 reviews tallied, the Tomatometer registers a 54% approval rating, falling short of the 60% benchmark required for a "Fresh" certification. This score places Verity squarely within a pattern of critical disfavor that has plagued previous Colleen Hoover adaptations.
Indeed, the film joins a growing roster of Hoover’s novels that have struggled to win over reviewers, despite their immense popularity with readers. A look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores for her prior cinematic ventures reveals a consistent challenge:
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- It Ends with Us (2024): 55%
- Regretting You (2025): 29%
- Reminders of Him (2026): 56%
- Verity (2026): 54%
This consistent "Rotten" streak suggests a disconnect between the emotional resonance Hoover’s stories achieve on the page and their translation to the screen, a phenomenon often observed with highly anticipated literary adaptations.
Individual critical assessments for Verity largely hover in the moderate range, typically scoring between 2 and 3 out of 5 stars. However, two reviews stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum. Nina Starner of Slashfilm delivered the harshest critique, assigning the film a mere 2 out of 10. Conversely, Liz Declan, writing for thescreescore.com, offered a glowing 8 out of 10, commending the ensemble cast and the film’s "fun, twisted tone." Declan highlighted Verity as "a can’t-miss for audiences looking for a steamy, creepy romantic thriller that doesn’t fall victim to some of the pitfalls of the genre," suggesting that while the critical consensus is mixed, the film may still resonate strongly with its target demographic.
The question now turns to whether this critical divisiveness will impact Verity‘s box office performance. Past Hoover adaptations offer a complex picture. It Ends with Us, despite its 55% RT score, became a colossal success in 2024, grossing an astounding $351 million against a modest $25 million budget. Its triumph, however, was notably amplified by intense public interest surrounding widely reported behind-the-scenes tensions and a lawsuit involving its stars, Blake Lively and director-actor Justin Baldoni. While subsequent adaptations didn’t reach such stratospheric heights, they still proved profitable. Regretting You, starring Allison Williams and Dave Franco, secured $90.5 million, and Reminders of Him, featuring Maika Monroe, earned $89 million, both against similar $25 million budgets.
Verity, however, enters the arena with a significantly larger reported budget of $40 million, making it the most expensive Colleen Hoover adaptation to date. This increased investment potentially pushes its break-even point upwards of $100 million, introducing a higher degree of financial risk. Yet, the presence of an A-list ensemble, including Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway and perennial favorite Dakota Johnson, could be a crucial factor in drawing audiences. Should Verity manage to transcend its critical "Rotten" label and replicate the commercial success of its predecessors, it would solidify the author’s brand as a box office draw, regardless of critical consensus.
As of now, Verity marks the final officially announced Colleen Hoover adaptation greenlit in the wake of It Ends with Us‘s phenomenal success. Nevertheless, if this latest thriller manages to navigate its critical headwinds and deliver a strong box office showing, it’s highly probable that more of Hoover’s extensive bibliography, which includes bestsellers like All Your Perfects and the It Ends with Us sequel It Starts with Us, will find their way to the big screen. The enduring appeal of her narratives, coupled with a dedicated global fanbase, suggests that even with a challenging critical track record, the cinematic "CoHo-verse" may be far from finished.
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