Yet another bestselling Colleen Hoover novel is being turned into a movie, except this time, we’re switching genres. Hoover will test her hand in a psychological thriller, with Verity coming to screens on Oct. 2, and the trailer already has audiences terrified. So, is Verity a horror movie?
The Verity trailer reveals the stacked cast of Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett engaging in a steamy, dark romance. But, with blood, jump scares, and screaming, the film feels more like horror than a psychological thriller.
The trailer begins with Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson) walking through the house in her satin robe, walking past a bed-ridden Verity Crawford (Hathaway) before straddling Jeremy Crawford (Hartnett). Mid-kiss, Lowen realizes she’s kissing Verity, who ends up biting her lip and making it bleed. The haunting music escalates until Lowen screams a horror-movie scream. “Even with my generous warning, you’re going to continue to ingest my words,” Verity says, as an ominous montage plays. “But know one thing,” Verity continues. “There is no light where we’re going. Darkness ahead.”
Some fans are wondering if the Verity book adaptation will lean more into horror than thriller. The book, some believe, did not feel as scary.
Verity follows writer Lowen take over as a ghost writer for the ill and incapable author Verity . Just as Lowen starts to get more comfortable, she finds a hidden, unfinished, and disturbing autobiography by Verity. She begins to question everything she knows about the family, and her own feelings for Verity’s husband, Jeremy. Every chapter, the perspective switches between Lowen and Verity’s manuscript, making readers question who to believe.
The thrill in the books comes more from the plot twists and unreliable narrator, rather than gore and violence, but the movie looks like it might turn to traditional scare tactics, making it more horror than psychological thriller. Verity is directed by Michael Showalter, who previously worked with Hathaway on The Idea of You. Showalter previously said that his version of the film will be “dark and twisted.” He told ScreenRant, “It’s a thriller. It’s scary and suspenseful. It’s quite dark and twisted, but I’m very excited and proud of that movie.”
With the novel’s widespread popularity and the star-studded cast, the film is bound to attract audiences, but I don’t think anyone expected it to be this scary. Fans have taken to social media to express their reactions.
Verity marks Hoover’s fourth book-to-movie adaptation in two years – all of which were box office hits starring big names. Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni gained a lot of attention with It Ends With Us in 2024, followed by Regretting You featuring Mckenna Grace and Mason Thames in 2025, and Reminders of Him starring Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, and Rudy Pankow in 2026.
Hoover is not the only one who’s been booked and busy professionally. Anne Hathaway is starring in five major movies in 2026, including Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, Flowervale Street, and Verity.