If you thought 2026 was going to be the year of anyone else—maybe Tom Holland, maybe Zendaya, maybe a particularly ambitious golden retriever—you were wrong. Because this year belongs to one woman, and her name is Anne Hathaway.
She’s not just having a moment.
She’s having a Hathayear. And it is absolutely glorious.
The Rollercoaster Starts (With a Weird Pop Star)
Let’s start at the beginning because no good story starts in the middle. Kicking off this cinematic assault was Mother Mary, an experimental A24 drama where Hathaway plays a pop icon reuniting with her estranged costume designer (Michaela Coel).
The reviews? Let’s just say they were spicy. One critic called it “50 per cent artsy and 50 per cent fartsy”. Another said it was “one of those films that contains a good story, but messes it up with complicated ideas and surrealist visuals”. Ouch.
But here’s the thing about Hathaway: she doesn’t do boring. Even in a “pretentious misfire”, she apparently “acted her heart out”. The woman learned to sing for this role, with Charli XCX and Jack Antonoff writing the music, no less. You have to respect the commitment, even if the final product was… a lot.
Then Came the Nostalgia Hit
Just a week later, Hathaway reminded everyone why we love her by slipping back into those Chanel boots for The Devil Wears Prada 2. Now we’re talking. Andy Sachs is back, working as an investigative journalist who gets pulled back into the Runway chaos. It was the comfort food we all needed after the Mother Mary fever dream.
The Odyssey: Nolan’s Epic Behemoth
But wait, there’s more. Because you can’t have a Hathayear without a Christopher Nolan epic. The Odyssey arrived in July, and it was everything you’d expect from the guy who made Oppenheimer: huge, grand, and full of stars. Hathaway joined a cast that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, and Zendaya, and the film is already Nolan’s highest-grossing movie of all time. Not bad for a gal who was playing a pop star a few months earlier.
Dinosaurs in the Suburbs? Yes, Please
And just when you thought she’d done it all, Hathaway went full Jurassic Park with The End of Oak Street. Directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows), this is a movie about a suburban family whose entire neighborhood gets teleported to… the prehistoric era.
Here’s the premise: Denise (Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are on the verge of divorce, their son broke a bully’s arm, and their daughter is quoting Carl Sagan like a champ. Then a mysterious flash of light hits their 1982 suburb, and suddenly they’re dealing with dinosaurs instead of marital strife.
One reviewer called it “the best dinosaur movie since 1993”. Another described it as “a rollicking hybrid of The Outer Limits and Jurassic Park“. It’s goofy, it’s thrilling, and apparently there’s a scene where a dinosaur discovers ice cream. What more could you want?
Verity: The Creepy Cherry on Top
To close out the year (and our collective endurance for Anne Hathaway content), there’s Verity, a psychological thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel. Hathaway plays the titular author, a woman left nonverbal and wheelchair-bound after a devastating accident. Dakota Johnson plays the ghostwriter hired to finish Verity’s book series, and things get… weird.
The trailer is suitably chilling, with Hathaway staring into the camera, wearing a red suit jacket and red lipstick, warning: “This is your final warning, only darkness ahead”. It’s giving Misery, it’s giving creepy, and it’s the perfect way to end a year that has been anything but predictable.
My Personal Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Hathaway
Alright, let me be honest with you.
I went into 2026 thinking Mother Mary would be my favorite. I love A24, I love weird, I love Hathaway in a blonde bob singing experimental pop. But folks? It was exhausting. I left the theater feeling like I’d just sat through a three-hour philosophy lecture delivered by a very glamorous woman who kept winking at me. Beautiful, ambitious, and completely incomprehensible. 5/10 for effort, 2/10 for my poor confused brain.
The Devil Wears Prada 2? Now that was the cinematic equivalent of a warm hug. I cheered when Miranda Priestly appeared. I gasped when Andy walked into that elevator. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but it didn’t need to be. It was pure, unapologetic fan service, and I ate every single bite. 8/10, would watch again with wine.
Then came The Odyssey. Look, I respect Nolan. I really do. But sometimes his movies feel like homework, and I showed up without my pencil. Hathaway was great—she always is—but with a cast that big, she felt like one beautiful face in a sea of beautiful faces. Gorgeous cinematography, booming score, and honestly? I fell asleep for twenty minutes and didn’t miss a thing. 6.5/10, but I’m blaming Nolan, not Anne.
And then… The End of Oak Street.
Oh my goodness.
THIS was the one. I laughed, I cried (a little), I gasped when the T-Rex showed up, and I absolutely lost it during the scene where the dinosaur discovers a freezer full of ice cream sandwiches. Hathaway was hilarious, vulnerable, and surprisingly badass with a flare gun. Ewan McGregor and her had this chaotic married-couple energy that felt so real it made me text my own spouse to say I loved them. This movie had no business being this good. 9.5/10, and I’m docking half a point only because my popcorn got cold while I was too busy screaming.
Finally, Verity. I read the book. I was worried. But Hathaway? She understood the assignment. That woman can do creepy with just her eyes, and she proved it here. The red lipstick, the stillness, the way she barely moved but still made my skin crawl—absolute masterclass. Dakota Johnson held her own too, but this was Hathaway’s show. It was dark, twisted, and left me staring at my ceiling at 3 AM. 8/10, but only because I’ll never look at a typewriter the same way again.
The Verdict: What a Year
So what have we learned from Anne Hathaway’s 2026 film slate? That she can do literally anything. She’s been a pop star, a magazine assistant, a Greek myth character, a suburban mom fighting dinosaurs, and a creepy author. She’s gone from Prada to prehistoric. From artsy drama to blockbuster mayhem.
If I had to rank them: The End of Oak Street takes the crown, Verity and Prada 2 fight for silver, The Odyssey is bronze, and Mother Mary… well, bless her heart, she tried.
Anne Hathaway, you magnificent creature, thank you for this wild ride. Please take a nap now. You’ve earned it. And honestly? Bring on 2027—just make sure Anne has time to catch her breath first. Because if this year taught me anything, it’s that the woman is unstoppable. And frankly, I’m not sure the world is ready for what she does next.
But I’ll be in the front row, popcorn in hand, ready for whatever chaos she brings.
PHIL DEVON