Verity    1 ½ stars

Verity is Latin for the word truth. It is also the title of the new psychological thriller by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) based on the novel by Colleen Hoover. Truth can come in many forms, it may not be shared by different people, and it may be very hard to find. This is especially true in Verity. The movie stars Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh, a published yet not very successful fiction writer, Anne Hathaway (who is in about half of the new movies this year) as Verity Crawford, a highly successful writer of fiction and Josh Hartnett as Verity’s husband, Jeremy. Now, do you remember my advice of what to do if a billionaire invites you to their private mansion/island/compound? Apparently, the same applies if a famous writer invites you to their secluded house in the woods. At the outset of the movie, Lowen is walking to a meeting with a publisher when she happens to meet Jeremy at a street corner where she witnesses a bicyclist get killed by a passing car and she ends up covered in the cyclist’s blood. (What a way to introduce a character.) Sympathetic Jeremy helps her get cleaned up and lends her his shirt so she can still make it to her meeting. (Never mind how traumatized she must be.) When she asks him about his reaction to the tragedy, his response is “I’ve seen worse”. Who says that? But then, Jeremy shows up at her meeting as the one making the offer to Lowen for her to be a ghost writer for his wife, Verity to continue writing her wildly successful book series. After some convincing from her agent (Ismael Cruz Cordova), Lowen accepts, but first she must move into the couple’s isolated luxury home so she can research Verity’s materials on her books. Upon arrival she meets their son, Crew, who is about five and finds out that Verity is paralyzed and in a comatose state, requiring round-the-clock care. Lowen is told that this is the result of a recent car accident. (The creepiness expands.) Lowen continues with her mission, delving into Levity’s notes and books that show that Levity writes about some very dark stuff, always from the point of view of the villain. Things take a long time to get going, but eventually we find out that these are some really fucked up people that have an extremely twisted view of things. (One thing though, with this group of actors there is no shortage of steamy sex.) Without giving too much away, Lowen is drawn into a world of deceit that will consume her. The audience too, will become uncertain of what to believe as each layer of complexity is revealed. The more I thought about what I saw, the less I liked it. The actions of the characters are so convoluted and absurd you will leave thinking that no one could think like that. By the final reveal, I was thinking why did I come see this movie. The critics mostly panned it, but it was a box office success. The author, Colleen Hoover has had three other books made into movies: “It Ends with Us”, “Regretting You” and “Reminders of Him”. I have not seen any of them. The movies are described as dull by critics but have made billions of dollars. Now I know that I don’t need to see any of them.