The Absolutely Wild Alternate Ending of ‘Verity’ Changes the Entire Movie

SPOILERS AHEAD

Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson’s new thriller, Verity, is officially out in theaters, and those of you who’ve seen it know exactly how it ends. Those of you who haven’t? About to be fully spoiled, so turn back now if you want to stay surprised!

We have a deep dive on Verity’s ending this way, but essentially: we flash forward to Lowen (played by Dakota Johnson) driving with Jeremy (played by Josh Hartnett) after discovering a hidden letter from Verity, in which she reveals the manuscript about killing her daughter was simply a writing exercise, that Jeremy had poisoned her and caused her car crash, and that she’d been faking a catatonic state. In other words, Lowen potentially helped kill an innocent person.

So...what was the alternate ending? Director Michael Showalter told Variety, “In one version, Lowen, in that car scene, has that moment where she says, ‘I don’t know who to believe. One thing’s for sure: Verity was a master manipulator.’ And then she puts on a pair of sunglasses, leans back, and has this very cat-with-a-mouse-in-its-mouth look, puts her hand out the window, and as they’re driving away and a song is playing, she’s making [waves through the air] with her hand. So, the idea is that Lowen is the master villain. And then, you cut back to Verity sinking into the lake and her eyes open.”

He added, “We tried a hundred different versions of that—of Verity still being alive, and of Lowen being the dark phoenix, because we liked it and it was really, really cool. It was this amazing moment of, Holy crap! Has Lowen been the mastermind the whole time? It was the ending we always thought we were gonna do and it was what we had planned on. So, not showing her put the glasses on was such a massive revelation to realize.”

So, why didn’t they go with that ending? Ultimately, test audiences weren’t into it. As Showalter explained, “It took us a really long time to realize the audience isn’t ready to make the kind of decision at the end of the movie that we had been giving Lowen. Lowen had this moment where she put on the sunglasses and was like, I don’t give a shit, and the audience wasn’t ready to go there with her. The audience wanted her to be like, What the fuck have I done? We realized the audience is Lowen and the audience wasn’t ready to put those glasses on.”