A bestseller becomes a film

Director Michael Showalter adapts Colleen Hoover's two thousand eighteen self-published thriller Verity, which became one of the biggest word-of-mouth hits in contemporary publishing.

Lowen takes a job finishing a book

Broke writer Lowen Ashleigh is hired to finish Verity Crawford's book series after a car accident leaves Verity unable to speak or comprehend what is happening around her.

A hidden manuscript changes everything

In Verity's office, Lowen finds So Be It, an autobiographical manuscript in which Verity confesses to resenting her twin children Harper and Crew, and to letting Harper drown in the lake.

The manuscript describes two murder attempts

Verity writes that she first tried to kill Harper by pressing a pillow over the baby, believing suffocation could be mistaken for SIDS, but Jeremy woke and interrupted her.

“It was like she was trying to punish me, telling me I was a bad mother.”

The lake takes Harper's life

Years later, Verity takes the twins out in a canoe. She shifts her weight to tip the boat, saves Crew, and lets Harper drown. She writes, "I shifted all my weight, and the boat tipped over."

“I shifted all my weight, and the boat tipped over.”

Lowen steps into Verity's life

As Lowen reads the manuscript, she wears Verity's red dress, goes on a date with Jeremy, and becomes his lover. She begins to covet Verity's success, her husband, and everything she has.

Crew reveals his mother's secret

Crew tells Lowen his mother said not to talk to her if she asks questions. When Lowen asks if Verity is pretending she cannot talk, Crew bites down on a knife.

“Mommy said I shouldn't talk to you if you ask any questions about her.”

Lowen confronts Verity directly

Lowen tells Verity she has everything Lowen wants and does not deserve it. She says she will take Verity's house, career, and husband. It is the closest the film comes to a confession from Lowen.

“You have everything that anyone could ever want. That I want. And you don't deserve it.”

Jeremy discovers the manuscript

Jeremy finds a camera Lowen planted in Verity's room. Lowen hands him a printout of the manuscript. He reads it looking like a man seeing his wife for the first time.

Verity reveals she has been faking

Jeremy storms into Verity's room and accuses her of murdering their daughter. Verity moves for the first time, proving she has been faking her incapacity the entire time while hatching a plan.

“You murdered our daughter, Verity.”

Lowen stops Jeremy from killing Verity

Jeremy's hands go to Verity's throat. Lowen stops him, not to save Verity but to save him. She tells him to think about Crew and to make it look like an accident.

“Think about Crew. He won't have a mother or a father if you do this.”

Verity dies in the lake

Jeremy smothers Verity in her bed while Lowen watches. They carry her body to the water and arrange a fiction: Verity woke and walked into the lake that took her daughter.

A letter under the floorboard

Seven months later, Lowen finds a handwritten letter from Verity hidden beneath a loose floorboard. Verity writes that So Be It was never a confession but a writing exercise called antagonistic journaling.

Verity claims she was the victim

In the letter, Verity says Jeremy mistook her villain character for his wife, drugged her, and put her behind the wheel aimed at trees. She came to as the car crashed, realizing he was trying to kill her.

“I looked out the windshield; all I saw were trees, and in that moment I knew what you were doing.”

Lowen keeps the letter secret

After reading the letter, Lowen chooses not to show it to Jeremy. She carries his child and leaves the house with him and Crew, but will never know which version of Verity was real.

Readers split into two camps

Hoover's readers have spent a decade splitting into camps. Team Manuscript holds the confession is real. Team Letter claims Verity was the victim of her own craft. The film leaves the question fully open.

Verity gets the final word

The film cuts from Lowen's car to Verity's Hot Ones interview. Verity tells host Sean Evans she wanted to see how far she could push truth and how certain she could make the audience before showing them certainty was not wise.

“I wanted to see how far you could push it, how certain I could make the audience before showing them that maybe certainty wasn't the wisest choice.”

The ending refuses to answer

Director Showalter says the cut gives Verity the last word and refuses to let audiences walk out knowing what was real and what was false. Certainty is the one possession Lowen has to leave behind.

“We're not going to let you walk out of here knowing for sure what was real and what was false.”