‘Verity’ Ending, Explained
Verity (2026) follows Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), a struggling writer who is offered the chance to finish a bestselling book series for Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), an author who can no longer write after a serious accident. When Lowen accepts the job and moves into the Crawford family's home to go through Verity's notes, she discovers a draft of an autobiography that appears to be a confession.
The manuscript reveals that Verity resented being a mother and intentionally caused the boating accident that killed one of her twin children. As Lowen becomes convinced that Verity is faking her condition, she also develops a romantic relationship with her husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett). When she tells him about the manuscript, Jeremy kills Verity, and with Lowen's help, covers up the murder.
Seven months later, Lowen and Jeremy are expecting their first child together. While preparing to leave the old Crawford house for good, Lowen finds a letter from Verity promising that the manuscript was just her way of processing the grief of losing her daughter. She never resented her children and was never planning to die by suicide.
The letter also reveals that Jeremy found the manuscript, and thinking it was all true, drugged his wife and rigged her car to crash. Afraid that he would try to kill her again, Verity decided to fake her catatonia until she could escape with her son, Crew (Brady Wagner). Lowen decides not to tell Jeremy about the letter and chooses to continue her new life with him instead.
Was Verity Telling The Truth?
Although Lowen chooses not to share the letter with Jeremy, the discovery leaves her with two very serious questions that can never be answered. Did she help Jeremy murder an innocent woman? Or did she help him get rid of a killer who was pretending to be helpless? The movie doesn't provide enough evidence in favor of either, which is what makes the ending so unsettling.
The strongest evidence against Verity is that the manuscript isn't vague about what she supposedly did. It contains specific details about her family and the events surrounding Harper's death, making it difficult for Lowen to dismiss it as a fictional story. There are also details outside the manuscript that seem to support Verity's guilt, including the strange things Lowen witnesses in the house.
But the manuscript's biggest weakness is also its greatest strength. Verity is a writer who spent her entire career creating characters that were capable of terrible things. That gives her a believable reason to write a first-person account of murder without actually committing it. Her explanation that the manuscript was an exercise in processing grief therefore isn't impossible.
The letter also forces Lowen to look at Jeremy differently. Before she finds it, Jeremy appears to be the grieving husband whose wife murdered their daughter. But if Verity's version is true, his confrontation with his frightened wife at the end of the movie becomes part of a much longer chain of events, which look a lot like spousal abuse.
Why Does Lowen Keep The Letter Secret?
Lowen's decision not to tell Jeremy about the letter is arguably more important than the question of which document is genuine. By this point, she has built a new family with Jeremy and Crew. Revealing the letter could destroy everything she has gained since arriving at the Crawford house. But there are a few other possible reasons for her silence.
If she tells Jeremy that Verity claimed to be innocent, he can simply argue that the letter was another lie. Or, he could kill her the same way he killed his wife. If she goes to the police, she would also have to admit that she helped cover up Verity's death. Lowen therefore chooses the one option that allows her to keep moving forward with her life because ignorance is bliss.
Colleen Hoover, who wrote the popular 2018 book the movie is based on, has her own thoughts about Lowen and the choices she made. "I was in Lowen's head when I wrote it," the author said during a March 2026 appearance on Jenna Bush Hager's Open Book podcast. "So, I didn't really dive into that part of things from Jeremy or Verity's perspective."
"So, I walked away from it kind of feeling like Lowen felt – not being really sure. Now, as a reader, I have my opinion," she added. Hoover went on to reveal which of Verity's documents (the manuscript or the letter) she chooses to believe is true. "I'm team manuscript," the author said. But she didn't elaborate too much on her reasons.
