Loved Anne Hathaway’s Verity? Here Are 5 Movies to Watch Next

This article includes discussion of domestic abuse and sexual assault.

Colleen Hoover’s novels have become a reliable source of Hollywood material in recent years. Films including “It Ends With Us,” “Reminders of Him,” and “Regretting You” have drawn audiences to theaters, making a screen version of Hoover’s particularly grim thriller “Verity” feel almost inevitable. Directed by Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick,” “The Idea of You”), written by Nick Antosca, who worked on Apple TV’s adaptation of “Cape Fear,” and led by Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, the film brings one of Hoover’s most feverish stories to the screen. But what exactly is “Verity” about?

The story follows Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson), a struggling novelist on her way to meet a major publishing company when a gruesome accident leaves her drenched in a cyclist’s blood. A stranger offers her his shirt, and Lowen later discovers that the man is Jeremy Crawford (Hartnett), the husband of celebrated thriller author Verity Crawford (Hathaway). Following the death of their daughter and a devastating car accident, Verity lies in a seemingly catatonic state and cannot complete her bestselling series. Jeremy hires Lowen to finish the books from the Crawford family home. Before long, however, Lowen begins to question whether Verity is truly incapacitated—and whether she should act on the attraction developing between herself and Jeremy.

Built around flashbacks, unreliable perspectives, and a tangled sexual undercurrent, “Verity” is lurid, deliberately excessive, and often wonderfully strange. If its blend of domestic menace and twisty melodrama leaves you wanting more, the films below make strong follow-up viewing. In fact, all five are arguably better than “Verity”—and each helped shape the kind of thriller that made the film possible in the first place.

Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” set the standard for the modern domestic thriller after the novel arrived in 2012. Many subsequent books and films tried to recreate its formula, including 2016’s “The Girl on the Train,” which follows a similar blueprint with mixed results. “Verity” clearly owes a substantial debt to Flynn’s story and its 2014 film adaptation, directed by David Fincher and scripted by Flynn herself. The movie introduces Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), a failing everyman whose marriage to New York native Amy Elliott Dunne (Rosamund Pike) is deteriorating after he brings her to his small Missouri hometown to help care for his sick mother. On the morning of their fifth anniversary, Amy disappears, leaving behind a chaotic house. As police investigate the possibility of an abduction, flashbacks drawn from Amy’s diary begin to complicate the mystery.

“Gone Girl” has nearly everything a psychological thriller could ask for: shifting timelines, morally compromised characters, and narrators whose versions of events cannot be trusted. Its influence on “Verity” is impossible to miss, but Fincher’s film remains an exceptional work in its own right. It is one of the strongest examples of a bestselling thriller successfully translated to the screen, so it should be your first stop after “Verity.”

For viewers who want their suspense with more wit, color, and outright absurdity, Paul Feig’s “A Simple Favor” is an ideal choice. Adapted from Darcey Bell’s 2017 novel, the 2018 film opens with mommy blogger Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) asking her followers for help locating her missing friend Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). The two women meet during a school pickup and form an unlikely bond: Stephanie favors adorable socks and domestic crafts, while Emily is a fashion executive who drinks martinis with intimidating ease and wears little beyond red-soled Christian Louboutin shoes. When Emily asks Stephanie to watch her son during a work emergency, Stephanie agrees. Emily, however, never returns, leaving Stephanie to care for the child alongside Emily’s husband, Sean Townsend (Henry Golding). The mystery quickly expands: Where did Emily go, what secrets is she hiding, and why is Stephanie becoming drawn to Sean?

Revealing the twists in “A Simple Favor” would spoil much of its fun, but the movie delivers the knowingly campy version of “Verity” that some viewers may wish they had seen. Feig’s sharp direction and Jessica Sharzer’s lively screenplay elevate the material into a stylish cult favorite. Pour yourself an icy gin martini and settle in.

Here is a surprising bit of Oscar history: among Alfred Hitchcock’s most celebrated thrillers, only one won the Academy Award for best picture. It was neither “Vertigo” nor “Psycho,” but “Rebecca,” his 1940 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 Gothic novel. The film’s structure and atmosphere also provide an unmistakable template for “Verity” and countless other psychosexual dramas.

After a brief prologue centered on the estate known as Manderley, “Rebecca” introduces an unnamed young woman (Joan Fontaine), who works as a companion to a wealthy older woman while traveling through Europe. During the trip, she meets Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), a handsome and mysterious widower. Maxim proposes, and the couple soon returns to his imposing country estate in the English countryside: Manderley.

The new Mrs. de Winter struggles to find her place among the wealthy family’s traditions while facing the unsettling hostility of Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), Manderley’s severe housekeeper. Mrs. Danvers remains devoted to Maxim’s late first wife, Rebecca, whose presence seems to linger throughout the estate. The parallels with “Verity”—a young woman, a troubled husband, and an absent wife whose influence refuses to disappear—are striking. Hitchcock’s Gothic classic is essential viewing. The 2020 remake starring Armie Hammer and Lily James, on the other hand, is best skipped.

Paul Feig appears again with “The Housemaid,” a 2025 adaptation of Freida McFadden’s novel. It may not be as polished as “A Simple Favor,” but it shares that film’s appetite for heightened drama and glossy, high-speed twists. Sydney Sweeney plays Millie Calloway, a young woman recently released from prison who is living in her car when she lands a job as a housemaid for Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried), a glamorous woman from a wealthy family. The arrangement turns sour almost immediately. Nina behaves erratically and seems determined to make Millie’s life difficult, while Millie finds comfort in Nina’s seemingly gentle husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar, who also appeared in “It Ends With Us”). Eventually, the film reveals the far more complicated game being played inside the Winchester home.

A warning for prospective viewers: “The Housemaid” deals heavily with domestic abuse, so consult trigger warnings before watching. Seyfried gives Nina a flamboyant, commanding performance, while Feig brings his usual dry humor to Rebecca Sonnenshine’s clever screenplay. The result is dark, violent, and intensely entertaining, building toward an ending set to Taylor Swift’s “I Did Something Bad.” By the credits, the film is gleefully committed to both women’s rights and women’s wrongs.

Cary Joji Fukunaga’s 2011 version of “Jane Eyre” may have been overlooked when it premiered, but fans of “Verity” should seek it out. Like “Rebecca,” Charlotte Brontë’s influential dark romance offers a clear antecedent to the themes and power dynamics found in Hoover’s work. Mia Wasikowska stars as Jane, an orphan who survives a painful childhood before becoming a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets the wealthy and charismatic Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender). Although Rochester is apparently promised to the beautiful Blanche Ingram (Imogen Poots), he and Jane develop a powerful mutual attraction.

There is, naturally, a complication—one involving an attic and a series of mysterious fires. “Jane Eyre” is a familiar story to many viewers, but its secrets are best discovered firsthand, so the details will remain unspoiled here. Wasikowska and Fassbender anchor the film with strong performances, supported by Judi Dench, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins, Tamzin Merchant, and Simon McBurney. It is a richly atmospheric choice for anyone looking for another dark romance after “Verity.”

“Verity” is currently playing in theaters.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. Additional information, resources, and support are available through their website.

If you or anyone you know has experienced sexual assault, support is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).