Movies Like ‘Verity’ for Viewers Who Want More Gothic Suspense and Unreliable Narrators

‘Verity’ follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who relocates to a remote estate to ghostwrite for the renowned author Verity Crawford, and who then uncovers what appear to be chilling autobiographical notes. Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett star under director Michael Showalter, and the film reaches cinemas from October 2.

Anyone looking for movies like ‘Verity’ has a clear map to follow. Amazon has described the project as a gothic, psychosexual thriller in the vein of ‘Rebecca’ and ‘Gone Girl’, and those two titles are a natural place to start. The films below cover obsession, domestic secrets and narrators who cannot be fully trusted.

‘Gone Girl’

Amy and Nick Dunne look like the picture of domestic bliss until Amy goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary and Nick becomes the prime suspect. Us Weekly reads the film as a dark satire of marriage, media and gender dynamics. One reviewer also points to it as a sharper version of the found confession device that powers the ‘Verity’ story.

‘Rebecca’

One screen version, based on Daphne du Maurier’s novel, centers on a naive young woman who marries a wealthy widower named Maxim de Winter after a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo. The lush estate and the simmering tension between mistress, staff and past secrets give it a brooding gothic mood. An earlier film version was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and one reading list says the suspenseful romance inspired Colleen Hoover’s novel.

‘The Girl on the Train’

Rachel fantasizes about a seemingly perfect couple she watches from the train, then becomes entangled in an investigation tied to her own unsolved mystery. The film leans on suspicion, obsession and fractured relationships, with Emily Blunt among its cast. It suits viewers who enjoy a story where the central perspective may not be reliable.

‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’

Rebecca De Mornay plays Peyton Flanders, a soft spoken nanny hired by a young couple who gradually manipulates them and turns them against one another. Us Weekly calls it a delightful slice of domestic thriller camp, anchored by a scene stealing turn from De Mornay. The appeal is an outsider who slips inside a household and reshapes it.

‘Shutter Island’

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio took the bones of a classic detective tale and turned it into something darker, with DiCaprio as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, who travels to a remote island psychiatric facility to investigate a missing patient. It is widely considered among the best modern psychological thrillers. Like the remote Crawford estate in ‘Verity’, the setting keeps everyone cut off.

‘Black Swan’

Darren Aronofsky directs Natalie Portman in a disorienting psychological thriller about obsession and the mental cost of pressure. ‘Verity’ asks a related question about whether opportunity has tipped into obsession for its heroine. Both films keep the audience unsure of what is real.

‘Parasite’

Bong Joon Ho’s film tackles classism and carries elements of black comedy. Lowen accepts her ghostwriting job while on the brink of financial ruin, so the tension between an outsider and a wealthy household will feel familiar. It trades gothic romance for social bite.

‘The Housemaid’

Director Paul Feig plunges viewers into a twisted world where perfection is an illusion and nothing is as it seems. The story is known for dark secrets and unreliable female leads. It is currently streaming on Starz.

‘The Handmaiden’

Us Weekly describes this film as a sumptuous South Korean period drama and recommends it to viewers who enjoyed ‘The Housemaid’. It is a good fit for anyone who wants the lavish end of the genre rather than a contemporary setting.

‘Woman of the Hour’

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut is a tightly wound genre piece with several thrilling plot threads that pull the viewer along. One reviewer counts it among the better Netflix releases of its year and says the period styling does not entirely smother the story.

‘Mothers’ Instinct’

Anne Hathaway appeared opposite Jessica Chastain in this film, which Numero described as lackluster. It also turns up on a list of movies similar to ‘The Housemaid’, so it is best treated as a curiosity for anyone tracking Hathaway’s recent run. Viewers who see ‘Verity’ this weekend can tell us in the comments whether Hathaway’s Verity Crawford belongs closer to Rosamund Pike’s Amy Dunne or to Rebecca De Mornay’s Peyton Flanders.