Spoilers for Verity are ahead! You can catch the movie in theaters now.
We talk often about how sex scenes are filmed and how intimacy coordinators work on set. However, there’s another element to the intimate moments in the book-to-screen adaptation of Verity that had my attention when I watched the flick. That would be the graphic words from Verity’s manuscript that were used as an overlay on various sex scenes in the movie, and I spoke to the director Michael Showalter about that creative choice and the meaning behind it.
The Way Verity’s Sex Scenes Worked Was A First For Me
I can safely say I’ve never watched a movie that featured sex scenes and spicy pages from a book on top of them. In the movie, this happens when intimate moments of Verity’s manuscript are being described, and we see both the actors playing out the scene literally and the page of her book that’s describing the actions.
In fact, smutty words are flashed across the screen while Anne Hathaway’s titular character and Josh Hartnett’s Jeremy are having sex. Why is that the case? Michael Showalter told CinemaBlend it wasn’t just one thing.
Well, for a bunch of reasons. One is just it was sort of a cinematic device that I thought was right for the genre of this story, the romantic quality of it. But also [I want] to remind the audience this isn’t what really happened; this is what’s been written, and this is what she’s reading, and this is what Lowen is reading and turning into a visual thing. And so, to remind the audience that this isn’t real, this is what’s written. So it’s really just a reminder.
OK, let’s break down these reasons. From a style perspective, I do think this was a cool choice for the project on the 2026 movie schedule. It was unexpected and highlighted the manuscript at the center of this story. To me, it also kind of paid homage to the book that inspired this movie.
From a story perspective, it really was a valuable reminder. It was important to note that when we were watching Verity and Jeremy in flashbacks, it was through Verity’s manuscript. So, we were seeing what she wanted us to see, and that does not mean what we were seeing was the truth.
That’s significant because we really don’t know what’s true and what’s not in this movie. Verity’s manuscript seems untrustworthy from the jump. However, it becomes even more of an unreliable source when Lowen finds a letter from her at the end of the movie that claims everything she wrote in the manuscript was a writing exercise and therefore false.
It’s unclear which document was the truth, and it’s possible they could both be lies. Multiple endings were filmed for this movie. People who watched Verity are still unsure. Everything we, the audience, know about Verity’s past is unreliable.
The graphic words that overlay the sex scenes really do help amplify that point, and it also emphasizes how we really need to be careful while trying to figure out what Jeremy’s relationship was with both Verity and Lowen, because all we know is what his wife has written down.
So, the next time you watch Verity, make sure to take note of this choice. It’s not just stylistic; it’s also a helpful reminder that when it comes to the writers at the center of this story, we can’t always believe the words they put on the page and what we see on screen.