Watch the year’s most underrated thriller movie right now

Recalling the likes of Fatal Attraction, Gone Girl, and Unfaithful, we need more films like this.

Based on the hit Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, Dakota Johnson plays Lowen, a struggling author. She accepts an offer to ghostwrite for the famous Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway).

The creator of a beloved franchise centred around a Tom Ripley-esque antihero, Verity has been incapacitated after a recent tragedy, seemingly unable to talk or walk. Verity's book label and husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), want Lowen to comb through the famous author's personal archive of writings and use this to continue the series.

As Lowen stays in Verity's home with the ailing author, her husband and their young son, she grows close to Jeremy, while suspecting there is more to Verity's condition than meets the eye. Lowen also uncovers Verity's unpublished autobiography full of shocking secrets.

These movies may not always be high art. Yet, they are usually extremely watchable. They probe universal or timely topics, generate visceral suspense, and allow likeable gorgeous stars to wear exquisite clothes and traipse around fabulous houses we would like to live in.

Watch the trailer for Verity right here:

Verity doesn't stray too far from the winning formula. It boasts a fearless Anne Hathaway, a likeable and deadpan Dakota Johnson, and a smart and multi-layered turn from Josh Hartnett, all beautiful people it's fun to see become entangled in a twisted love triangle.

The narrative structure - jumping between the gothic-inflected plotline of Lowen falling for Jeremy in the shadow of the paralysed Verity, and Verity's villain origin as presented in her autobiography - is always compelling, keeping the audience guessing throughout.

Verity isn't perfect. It's nearly two hours in length. That's slightly too long, giving the viewer enough time to realise the story's leaps in logic.

We imagine the ending will be slightly divisive. It eschews the clear resolution typical in these types of thrillers in favour of moral ambiguity. That said, we'd argue that this decision feels right for this very literary-inspired story, which is all about perspective, storytelling, the blurred line between fact and fiction, and unreliable narrators.

Verity may not have been a big hit with the critics (33% on Rotten Tomatoes). Yet, movies like this are often dismissed by critics upon release. They then become classics through repeat viewings on TV and streaming.

Verity is in cinemas now.