'Verity' Movie Opening Scene Fuels Wild Fan Theory as Josh Hartnett Calls Jeremy Conspiracy 'Insane'

A seemingly throwaway death at the beginning of 'Verity' has become one of the film's biggest talking points, with fans questioning whether Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) deliberately engineered the incident to meet Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson). Hartnett has now dismissed the idea, calling it 'insane' and 'crazy' in an interview with an entertainment-focused media outlet.

The theory centres on the opening scene of Colleen Hoover's bestselling 2018 novel, in which a bike messenger is struck by a car just before Lowen is due to attend a publishing meeting. The accident leaves blood on Lowen's clothes, and Jeremy appears with a clean shirt, creating a first encounter that some readers have interpreted as far more calculated than it appears.

Why Fans Think Jeremy Engineered 'Verity' Opening Scene

In the novel, Lowen encounters Jeremy after the bike messenger is hit in front of them. With her clothes splattered with blood, she is offered his shirt, and later they are officially introduced through their publishing business.

That sequence has led some fans to speculate that Jeremy arranged the accident so he could appear helpful and establish a connection with Lowen before hiring her to continue the work of his incapacitated wife, Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway). Readers have advanced the theory since the novel's publication in 2018, although nothing in the story confirms that Jeremy orchestrated the incident.

Hartnett, Johnson and Hathaway Reject the Theory

Johnson questioned the theory, asking, 'Why would he do that?' Hartnett responded, 'He was already meeting her!' Hathaway wondered, 'Do you think that would have been Jeremy's instinct?' and compared the idea to 'the Titanic door theory'.

Hartnett said Jeremy would 'absolutely not' have set up the death of a bike messenger simply to meet Lowen. 'I'm glad I didn't think about that before we started filming, otherwise I couldn't be on his side,' he added, describing the idea as 'so [out of] left field' and 'crazy'.

'There'd be lots and lots of things he would have to be in cahoots with,' Hartnett later said. 'How crazy would that be? Orchestrating that whole thing in that timing. How would that even be possible? I mean, is he God?'

Director Michael Showalter said Jeremy would have needed to work closely with Lowen's literary agent to make the timing work. He noted that in both the book and the film, Lowen is told to arrive at a different time from the actual meeting 'because she's always late', and Hoover called it 'a good point', adding: 'I like that you just debunked it, but I also like that there's conversation about it.'

'Verity' Box Office Projection Puts Focus On Opening Weekend

'Verity' stars Hathaway, Johnson and Hartnett, with Ismael Cruz Córdova and Brady Wagner also in the cast. Showalter directs from a screenplay by Nick Antosca based on Hoover's novel.

The film follows Lowen, a struggling writer hired to continue the work of the incapacitated Verity. After moving into the Crawford family home, she discovers material that appears to reveal disturbing secrets about Verity, Jeremy and their family.

A US entertainment industry publication projects a domestic opening of $30 million (about £22.6 million) to $35 million (about £26.4 million) from 3,510 theatres, which would make it Hathaway's third No 1 opening of 2026. Verity opens in cinemas on Friday, 2 October 2026.

Why 'Verity' Still Divides Fans Over the Manuscript and Letter

Spoiler warning: This section discusses the story's ending.

At the heart of the thriller is a question: was Verity telling the truth in her disturbing manuscript, or was the document a carefully constructed lie? Lowen discovers what appears to be Verity's autobiographical account, containing shocking claims about her family and her feelings towards her children.

Later, a letter attributed to Verity offers a different explanation, suggesting the manuscript was fictional and that she had written it as an exercise in 'antagonistic journaling'. One reading treats the manuscript as a true confession and the letter as another deception, while the other treats the manuscript as a writing exercise and the letter as the truth.

The uncertainty has helped keep the debate alive among readers and viewers, because the same scenes can support very different conclusions. The film retains that central tension between what is written, what is believed and what can actually be proven.