There’s something to be said about a film positioned as a major summer tentpole, and it revolves around both luxurious fashion and the state of old-fashioned journalism versus a towering new media landscape. 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada was less ambitious, focusing on heightened office culture and work-life balance. For this lavish sequel, many of the right lessons were learned (mainly to do away with the boring boyfriend and keep the cis hetero romance as a mild subplot at best), despite stakes that never feel truly threatening and, at best, serve only to keep audiences on their toes. At the same time, these very successful actors return for what is essentially a victory lap in the form of a legacy sequel check-in. As a result, The Devil Wears Prada 2 may not replicate the same sense of iconography as the first, but it recreates that fun well enough and feels more balanced by consistently wearing its best looks.
To its credit, the film actually finds a fun way for these characters to return into each other’s orbit. Due to some bad press, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), longtime editor-in-chief for Runway, is forced to take on a new features editor for the magazine. This would be Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Anne Hathaway), who has spent years navigating life as a journalist, but finds herself happy to return to the stressful world where she once served as Miranda’s second assistant. Upon her return, Andy is seemingly hardly remembered by Miranda and not exactly excited to see her either. However, at least Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci), Miranda’s seasoned right hand, continues to be supportive in his own fussy sort of way. Of course, they’ll all have to learn to collaborate well again if they want not only to put out any current fires, but also to continue showing how they can provide an important voice through the lens of fashion and culture.
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Obviously, much of the first film’s pleasures came from seeing Streep play a cold, megalomaniacal diva who was also dryly humorous, whip-smart, and incredibly stylish. Watch Miranda interact with a terrified set of employees who honored her every beck and call, which, in turn, created catiness among the various assistants, leading to a fairly iconic new way of satirizing office culture. Regardless of my reservations about other aspects of the film, it was a nice change of pace to have this take on office culture as an alternative to the templates provided by fan-favorite media like Office Space or The Office.
Part of that joy comes from the simple idea that, in spite of the pettiness, enduring certain treatment stemmed from wanting to be a professional with a drive to climb the ladder. Yes, while there’s fun to be had in displaying some cheerful sense of anarchy against the system, the idea of wanting to actually be productive, succeed, and be in charge (therefore asserting one’s own creative vision) is no less of a proper goal to want to achieve. Balancing that drive with heightened abuse from the boss just means getting to see this energy channeled into something ridiculous yet watchable.
For The Devil Wears Prada 2, coming in twenty years later means there’s some reckoning with this sort of behavior. Miranda isn’t exactly restrained from how she handles certain situations, but the film does find some humor in having her assistant Amari (Simone Ashley) remind her now and again that she must hold back some of what she says. Playing in this world, where there’s greater accountability, also means accepting responsibilities, being more accountable, and being willing to see things from others’ perspectives. This is where Hathaway’s Andy comes in.
Receiving the best remodel of the cast, as opposed to once again having to learn a lesson every ten minutes like we’re in an afterschool special, Andy’s tenor this time around is far more confident. Yes, she still takes some initial hits from Miranda, but we see her succeeding on her own terms far more often, let alone contending with drama rooted in an appreciation she has for Miranda, Nigel, and the world she’s returned to. This includes her relationship with Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), Miranda’s other former assistant, who is now the senior executive at Dior. Attempting to hold onto an icy demeanor to match a woman she looked up to, it remains fun to watch Emily continue to play into a persona she is clearly using as a mask, even while succumbing to the idea of being friends with Andy, whom she happily conspired against in the past.
There’s more one could say about where the plot takes these characters. Still, there’s only so much to dig into, as it deals with the usual business-related machinations to possibly put certain people in their place, while propping up others. Given how some of these developments occur, one could almost see the film as being a bit too episodic. I don’t necessarily believe that to be the point, but I also can’t say I wasn’t continually amused by the progressions we do see. Really, what matters more is how this film justifies allowing these characters to keep arriving in new scenes in different spectacular outfits.
The first film received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design, which always feels like a win for contemporary-set features, and there will certainly be an argument made for this movie to follow suit. Sure, one can speak to how these costumes are thematically tied to the characters, and how that therefore takes us back to the plot’s involvement of certain types wanting to be in charge of big businesses, what it means for the employment of smaller internal groups, etc., but even the film knows that “things are going to be okay,” is a mantra to keep in mind while watching.
Sure, given how this film will be written about by hundreds of film critics, including myself, there is also the existential threat regarding the idea of no one actually wanting to read anymore, or at least pick up a hardcopy magazine when everything can largely be downloaded, streamed, or scrolled through in some manner. Still, writer Aline Brosh McKenna and director David Frankel (both returning) have little to say about that contrast that moves beyond a black-or-white approach. Nothing is all that wrong with this choice, given the film’s priorities, but just don’t go expecting something more exciting than the definitive answers this movie’s somewhat fantastical world provides.
As for the performers wearing these outfits and adapting to the changing times, everyone is bringing their all. The returning players all feel like they’re slipping back into their roles very comfortably, but some newly observed ways push them somewhat further. Some changes are a bit more convenient than others, given that 20 years is a long time to either maintain certain traits or come to a sudden realization, but everyone is endearing enough that it doesn’t hurt matters.
Meanwhile, several newcomers leave an impression. Justin Theroux is fun as a sort of spacey, dorky billionaire excited to have a beautiful girlfriend (and possibly his first) in the form of Emily. Kenneth Branagh is so low-key and welcoming as Miranda’s latest husband, he’s practically an accomplished himbo. Simone Ashley, Caleb Hearon, and Helen J. Shen all have fun as the various assistants. B.J. Novak plays his latest version of “Ryan” from The Office, which can be looked at in any number of ways. And Australian actor Patrick Brammall (Colin from Accounts) scores points as a new love interest for Andy. There are also a ton of cameos scattered throughout, some more meaningful than the other in the fashion world, but without any ever feeling like it’s too much or overstaying its welcome (one notably huge performer fits right in to the point of actually wanting more).
With more appreciation than general fondness for the first film, I now have two entries that, at the very least, deliver on the very likable interactions between the cast, and the decision to dress them to the nines. Fortunately, this time around feels more confident in what it wants to accomplish, as slight as it may ultimately be. Given the pop culture footprint left by the first film, something is refreshing about a sequel that isn’t pushing too hard on either nostalgia or being too ambitious for its own good. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is more or less a refresher that may have taken a while, but still feels stylish enough to deliver.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens in theaters on May 1, 2026.
