Verity is getting its first big-screen look, with Amazon MGM Studios unveiling the trailer for its adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling psychological thriller.
Anne Hathaway stars as Verity Crawford, a successful author left unable to speak or walk after a devastating accident. Her husband, Jeremy Crawford, played by Josh Hartnett, hires Lowen Ashleigh, portrayed by Dakota Johnson, to complete the final book in Verity’s bestselling series.
Lowen questions the unusual arrangement from the start. “Why can’t your wife finish her book series?” she asks Jeremy, who explains that doctors do not expect Verity to walk or talk again.
Jeremy also tells Lowen that Verity considered her a “brilliant, undiscovered voice” and the only writer capable of completing the novel. Desperate for money, Lowen accepts the offer and moves into the Crawfords’ secluded mansion, where she soon becomes romantically involved with Jeremy.
But the house appears to hold secrets. The trailer shows Lowen catching glimpses of Verity outside windows and in doorways, raising questions about whether she is truly as incapacitated as Jeremy claims.
Lowen also discovers a flash drive containing a document titled “Autobiography,” which appears to reveal Verity’s darkest thoughts.
“This is my confession, my autobiography,” Verity says in a chilling voiceover. “A writer’s words should be honest and bloody and a little bit terrifying.”
As Lowen reads further, Verity’s account becomes increasingly disturbing.
“I was his drug, and he was mine,” she says of Jeremy, before delivering a final warning: “This is your final warning, only darkness ahead.”
Michael Showalter directs the film from a screenplay by Nick Antosca. Showalter and Antosca produce alongside Alex Hedlund, Stacey Sher, Jordana Mollick, Hathaway and Hoover. Johnson, Lauren Levine and Kerry Orent serve as executive producers.