Verity
DIRECTOR: Michael Showalter
What is it about? Based on the 2018 book by the same title by Colleen Hoover, Verity is a psychological thriller about a famous author named Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who has become paralyzed and is incapable of finishing the last book in her famous series. Verity’s husband, Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett), hires a struggling writer named Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to ghostwrite the final book and live with the couple while doing so. Have you ever been on Space Mountain at Disneyland? Because this movie is a lot like that: so many dark turns that you didn’t see coming. Lowen discovers dark secrets about the Crawford family and starts to question almost everything. Those doubts don’t stop her from starting up a romantic relationship with Jeremy in Verity’s own home, though. As you can imagine, things unravel fast and the ending will make you run, not walk, to the Reddit threads for fan theories.
Reasons to BUST out the popcorn: Anne Hathaway is on a helluva box office run and we are sat for it. Also, a story written by a woman about two female writers that is also a psychological thriller? Get that popcorn popped. Extra butter.
Who would love this? Die hard readers of Verity, Colleen Hoover stans, lovers of Gone Girl or The Housemaid, anyone looking to escape their own reality and descend into crazy town.
- By Rachel Stevens
The Social Reckoning
DIRECTOR: Aaron Sorkin
What is it about? This companion film to The Social Network (also directed by Sorkin) follows the true story of Facebook tech product manager, Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who became famous for blowing the whistle on shocking problems within the social network site. Haugen teams up with Wall Street Journal writer Jeremy Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to help her expose these issues within the company, eventually leading to testifying before Congress.
Reasons to BUST out the popcorn: In contrast to The Social Network, which follows Zuckerberg through his rise to fame and founding of Facebook, The Social Reckoning puts us at the start of the domino toppling. It’s an interesting case as Haugen is not aiming to take down Facebook but rather improve it. Yet she’s consistently met with non-answers or a complete lack of accountability from the heads of the company, forcing her to take it to the justice system.
Who would love this? Tech world enthusiasts, mental health advocates, and social justice junkies. Also definitely your dad.
- By Emma David
Hexed
DIRECTORS: Fawn Veerasunthorn, Jason Hand and Josie Trinidad
What is it about? Hexed follows Billie (voiced by Haillee Steinfeld), a teenage girl who has struggled to feel that she fits into the world around her. When Billie stumbles out of suburbia into Hexe, a magical realm ruled by Witches, she gets flung into a journey that leads to Billie uncovering family secrets as she starts to understand her identity and place in the world.
Reasons to BUST out the popcorn: Not only does Hexed bring our first true alt-girl representation in a Disney animated film, but it offers a compelling and nuanced mother-daughter relationship that will be sure to resonate with BUST readers. Additionally, Fawn Veerasunthron and Josie Trinidad are two of the most notable women working in animation at the moment, with Veerasunthron having directed 2023’s Wish, and worked on myriad of other hit animated films such as Raya and the Last Dragon, Moana, Frozen, and Despicable Me 2, and Trinidad working on multiple Disney hit films such as Tangled and The Princess and the Frog
Who would love this? Practical Magic fans, Tarot deck collectors, people interested in dipping a toe into Disney adulthood, people who love to journal, fans of Barbie: Fairytopia but who also secretly wished the characters would wear Doc Martens.
- By Emily Lauletta
The Debut
DIRECTOR: Jesse Eisenberg
What is it about? Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is looking for some purpose in her life. Mona’s high school kids don’t need her in the same way anymore these days, so she auditions for a community theater musical being directed by a local legend who is so famous he only goes by one name: Jerry (Paul Giomatti). Mona has been a housewife her entire adult life and she’s sick of the ins and outs of making dinner and keeping a clean house. From housewife to handywoman, Mona finds power in method acting as her blue-collar part, Miss Danielle. Mona and Jerry workshopping this play’s character within The Debut is a masterclass in finding oneself in the depths of the unknown.
Reasons to BUST out the popcorn: First of all, it’s an all-star cast: Julianne Moore, Paul Giomatti, Halle Bailey, Bernadette Peters, and writer/director Jesse Eisenberg. Not only did Eisenberg write the movie, but he wrote the original songs in the musical that the cast performs. This movie is entertaining on so many levels. There are many coming-of-age stories in life, because there is so much power in each era of life. The Debut reminds us all that even in a small town or our small bubble, there may be more to us and more life to live.
Who would love this? Where the venn diagram of A24 fans overlaps with theater kids—this is for y’all.
- By Rachel Stevens
Steps
DIRECTORS: Alyce Tzue and John Ripa
What is it about? Ali Wong and Stephanie Hsu voice evil stepsisters in this animated musical comedy that flips the classic Cinderella fairy tale on its head. Tired of living in Cinderella’s shadow, the misunderstood stepsisters, Lilith and Margot, steal the Fairy Godmother’s wand and attempt to take over the Royal Ball. But, after it goes spectacularly wrong, they try to team up with Cinderella to clean up their royal mess.
Reasons to BUST out the popcorn: The movie, which will stream exclusively on Netflix, allows the complicated, “evil” stepsisters to serve as the protagonists in the story for once and gives them a layered backstory. The stepsisters are young, Asian immigrants navigating a fairytale world. The movie is also stacked with insane talent, including Amanda Seyfried (Cinderella), Bette Midler (Fairy Godmother), Nikki Glaser (the evil villain – not the evil stepmother though); and is written by Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci of the comedic duo Garfunkel and oats, and produced by Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite.
Who would love this? Fans of animated movies and musicals, sisters, and parents looking to watch something that kids and adults can watch together.
- By Ana Breton
Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day
DIRECTOR: Tina Gharavi
What is it about? Based on Virginia Woolf’s second novel, Night & Day follows Katharine Hilbery (Haley Bennett), a brilliant young astronomer who would much rather chart the stars than walk down the aisle. Set against the suffragette movement and a rapidly modernizing London, Katharine resists Edwardian expectations of marriage while navigating career ambitions, complicated relationships, and the question of whether women really can have it all. Director Tina Gharavi gives Woolf’s century-old novel a playful, contemporary sensibility without sacrificing its sharp critique of patriarchy.
Reasons to BUST out the popcorn: Virginia Woolf was interrogating the impossible balancing act between love, ambition, and independence long before “having it all” became a cultural catchphrase. This witty adaptation updates her feminist spirit with gorgeous period costumes, sparkling performances, and enough slow-burn romance to satisfy period-drama devotees that doesn’t lose sight of Katharine’s biggest love affair: astronomy. Even better? Lily Allen is in the flick, too.
Who would love this? Fans of Little Women, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Buccaneers, and anyone who secretly wishes Jane Austen had let one of her heroines skip the marriage plot and become a scientist instead.
- By Stephanie Valente
