After 20 long years, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is here – bringing a sequel with the perfect amount of nostalgia, style and quotable one-liners. Since the original movie's release in 2006, it's become a cult classic and a London West End musical.
Of course, all of the usual suspects have returned – Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestley, Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Emily Blunt's hilarious yet brash Emily and Stanley Tucci's Nigel. We see Andy rejoins iconic magazine Runway as part of an effort to steer the publication's struggling strategy towards more editorial integrity. Hence the clashing of egos, gorgeous fashion shoots, sassy comments and much more.
It's good to see the gang back together. Here's Glamour's 16 top thoughts while watching the much-awaited sequel.
Throw out the Bechdel Test.
Within minutes of the film beginning, the line “journalism is changing” is uttered. And boy, is it. Redundancies, restructures, clickbait – it’s a Wild West of a landscape to work in. But, as a magazine journalist, hearing Anne Hathaway proclaim that “journalism still f**king matters” was a great moment. But their approach to saving Runway, when needed, is very much a Hollywood ending, not a real-life, relatable one.
She is the ultimate villain for the sequel, and I’m obsessed. From her throwaway comment of “remember when magazines were a thing?” (ouch on so many levels) to her declaration that there’s no Runway without her influence as a PR at Dior. Her criticisms of people’s outfits at a significant character's funeral are undeniably hilarious and pitch-perfect, but the most iconic line in a movie of iconic lines has to be her delivery of: “May the bridges I burn light my way”. Frame it and mount it on my wall.
Andy’s glow up in the first film is nothing short of iconic – in a world where this word is undoubtedly overused – but there are still slights at her fashion sense in the sequel. And I’m just not having it. Anne Hathaway looks amazing and nothing short of glamorous in every scene. If she’s supposed to be the unfashionable member of the group, what the hell are all of us mere mortals?
It’s arguably inevitable that weight loss jabs would make their way into the DWP2 scripts, given the impact they have had on both Hollywood, the fashion world and body image expectations in general. But it’s a shame that they weren’t approached with any form of nuance. They – and those that use them – are often the butt of the joke, with one character using Ozempic as a “glow up” and Emily Blunt’s Emily referencing it in a jokey anecdote. Considering the impact of the jabs, couldn’t they have been referenced in a more body-positive manner?
Throughout the film, we see little snippets, as well as larger scenes, of Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestley doubting herself, having what looks like a hot flush, and ultimately looking like a human being. While I’m as much of a fan of an untouchable archetype as the next magazine girl, I liked seeing Miranda falter. It is humbling for her and all her fans, which in this case can only be a good thing.
Social media and the Internet have both evolved into truly monstrous presences since the first movie back in 2006. So it’s only right that Miranda Priestley herself gets subjected to the vicious force of social media trolls. She even gets called a “dinosaur”.
The absolute horror and hilarity to see her and her assistant, Amari (Simone Ashley), slumming it.
There’s a striking resemblance, that’s all I’m saying. From the comments about flying to space to the glow up. I actually asked Emily Blunt this question in Glamour’s interview with her. She laughed a LOT and told me to ask the writers.
Honestly, what's the point without them? And boy, did they bring it.
For me, it was the most emotional scene in the film and depicts a true bond. Their relationship is fraught with a rather unequal dynamic over both films, but we finally see Miranda realise how much a work husband can truly mean to you. Nigel had spent decades by her side and seeing her acknowledge that and the love that remained between them in such a spiky, competitive world was gorgeous.
The only woman who could go toe to toe with Miranda Priestley was completely unbothered. We see them trade sassy one-liners backstage, with Gaga berating people around her for letting Priestley in. A perfect collision of two unstoppable egos.
After the bad wrap Andy’s boyfriend from the first film, Nate, got – and certain updates to his character for the show's musical to please fans – I was intrigued to see what they would do with our protagonist’s romantic life in the sequel. We see her meet a well-dressed contractor while looking around a luxury apartment complex that he renovated.
We don’t really see Peter – played by Colin From Accounts star Patrick Brammall – involve himself heavily in Andy’s chaotic and definitely toxic career, lacking the judgmental disapproval we saw in Nate. The intensity of the magazine world and Andy's place in it takes its toll, sure, but it's nice to see a non-toxic dynamic for her.
In a conversation with Andy towards the end of the film, Miranda opens up about the “cost” of being a working woman, as well as how much she loves it. Her words really described how so many of us feel when navigating a competitive industry as a woman, the ways in which it takes from us and the shame or conflict we may feel for loving the validation we get from it anyway. Complex stuff, perfectly executed.
We see Sex Education and Bridgerton star Simone Ashley graft as Miranda's assistant in the sequel. In the final scenes of the film we learn that she's been promoted. Amari appeals to Andy, wanting affirmation and validation that she truly “deserved” it, referencing everything she'd had to do to attain it. It weirdly romanticises the toxic intern culture in a way that didn't sit right with me.
Considering the way Runway and its team are left at the end of The Devil Wears Prada 2, as well as the huge amount of hype around its return, I'd say it's definitely not off the cards. That's all.
