The Devils In The Details
- Adeline Allen
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Review of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep
!Spoiler Warning!
After twenty years, the sequel to the early 2000s hit movie, “The Devil Wears Prada,” was released on May 1, 2026. The original movie premiered in 2006, and was based on the book written by Laura Weisberger. The second film contains much of the same characters and cast as the previous movie.
The first film follows a young upstart journalist, Andrea ‘Andie’ Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway. She is hired to work as a junior assistant at Runway, a prestigious fashion magazine, run by none other than fashion icon, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep.) Sachs views this job as a temporary solution to her problems, but soon sees that it is much more difficult than she originally thought. With impossible demands from Emily Charlton, the senior assistant (Emily Blunt) and unachievable tasks from Priestly, Sachs struggles under the pressure. The movie ends with Andie eventually quitting her job, a satisfying resolution to its viewers.
The sequel kicks off twenty years after the end of the first film. Sachs is receiving an award for her writing, only to be fired moments later, due to a mass downsizing of the paper she was previously working for. While this is happening, the camera follows Priestly along a red carpet, as Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci), the Art Director and Priestly’s friend, shows her a scandal that broke out involving their company and sweatshops. The audience is then led to the chairman of Runway Magazines, Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman), and his son Jay Ravitz (B.J Novak). They are both grappling with the blow the company has taken, until they see a video of Andie getting released from her job. Andie ends up back at Runway, working as the Features Editor, to help restore the publications credibility.
The film continues on with Irv’s death, leading his son to take over the company. His plan is to downsize the magazine almost entirely, which would leave Sachs, Kipling and many others without jobs. Sensing no other options, Sachs acquires an interview with a fashion star, Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu) as an effort to draw readers into the site.
The main rivalry shifts from the internal office to a corporate standoff. Charlton is now a high-powered executive at a luxury group (Dior) that controls the advertising dollars Priestly desperately needs for her company. Charlton attempts to leverage the magazine’s vulnerability to take control of Runway as revenge for how Priestly treated her as her assistant all those years ago. Sachs ends up becoming the middleman in a bidding war between Charlton’s billionaire boyfriend, Benji Barnes, and his reclusive ex-wife, Sasha Barnes, whom Sachs interviewed early in the film. Sachs eventually helps broker a deal for Sasha Barnes to buy the entire media company, saving Runway from Charlton's takeover.
Recognizing his years of loyalty, Priestly finally gives Kipling the spotlight he deserves by having him
deliver the keynote speech at the Milan Fashion Week gala, while she herself is promoted to Head of Global Content. The film ends with Sachs being given a prestigious new office and Priestly returning to her "rightful" place of power, admitting that Sach’s idealism was what ultimately inspired her to fight back.
The sequel overall focuses on the modern struggles of journalism. In a world where everything seems to be online, it is difficult to find sustainable work in this field not driven by clickbaits. Blunt’s well-timed one-liners steal the show with numerous notable laugh-out-loud moments. The costume designers chose thoughtful pieces which reflected the styles of each scene.
Compared to its original, the movie further humanizes Priestly, originally known as the “devil” The costumes were on par for the genre, tasteful and striking. Hathaway, Streep and Blunt continue to knock it out of the park with both humorous and emotional moments throughout the film.
<Star Ratings>
Plots: ★★★★★
Costume: ★★★★★
Humor: ★★★★★
Acting: ★★★★★
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