The Devil Wears Prada 2 released in theatres on April 30, 2026, and let’s just say, it was a hit. While a new storyline taking place twenty years after the original 2006 film, the film shifts focus to not only focus on the hardcore world of fashion, but also the changing world of journalism.
Twenty years after Anne Hathaway’s character Andy Sachs left the fashion magazine, Runway, she is now a successful journalist who loses her job ten minutes into the film. As luck would have it, though, Runway has just been exposed to a harmful scandal and needs a new feature writer to rewrite the narrative and save their image. Just like old times, Andy is back at the magazine. However, Andy soon realises how much the magazine has changed since her internship days. Assistants tell Miranda what to do, not the other way around, nothing is in print anymore, social media plays a bigger role than any other media in the promotion of fashion, and the only original “old-hands” at the company are Miranda Presley and Nigel. Meanwhile, Miranda Presley has her own concerns to worry about; after the death of Runway’s CEO right before she is announced as his successor, Miranda is faced with the possibility of Runway being sold to someone else, and thus losing her job due to her older age.
We are blessed with the return of Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep as Miranda Presley (who genuinely doesn’t look like she’s aged since the first film), Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling, and Emily Blunt as Emily, and also welcome new actors to the film, Simone Ashley, who played Miranda’s assistant, BJ Novak, who played the Runway CEO’s son and antagonist to Meryl Streep, and Justin Theroux as Emily’s husband. Lady Gaga, Lucy Liu and Donatella Versace also made appearances in the film, much to the audience’s delight.
The casting was phenomenal, and the characters felt very much like their 2006 selves, while still allowing for the fact that time has gone by and therefore each of them has grown up. It was especially wonderful to see Meryl Streep flex some other comedy muscles, with perfectly timed quips. However, it would have been nice to see Simone Ashley have a bigger role in this film. As Miranda’s assistant and right-hand (aside from Nigel), it would have been nice to see her interact more with the main crew of Miranda, Andy, Nigel and Emily.
There was some fun Easter eggs in the sequel that called back to the first Devil Wears Prada movie. The two blue belts, for instance, made an appearance, as did Andy’s iconic cerulean sweater. Even the opening was a callback, with the same shot of Andy brushing her teeth as she wipes a fog-covered mirror, only twenty years later.
The one thing the film lacked in terms of nostalgia was proper lighting. Everything was so bright and flat. It lacked the contrast of the first film. Not enough depth or texture in the lighting. Like it was airbrushed to be perfect. But instead of “perfection”, it came across as a bit boring.
An enjoyable film overall, what The Devil Wears Prada 2 did so well was its tackling of the death of print media. At the start of the film, audiences are told that Andy Sachs is a very successful journalist, whose newspaper instantly is shut down. After she starts back at Runway with Miranda Presley, not only do we see that the Runway magazine is entirely online now, but it is also mostly dominated by social media, two things Miranda Presley struggles to come to terms with. The film beautifully depicts how the changed landscape of journalism has made its way into high fashion, with Nigel, Runway’s fashion director, reminiscing about how he was previously paid a lot of money to travel the world and shoot glorious photo spreads for the magazine. Now, he gets two days to “shoot content” locally, and the main focus now isn’t how well-done the shoot is, but rather, how “clickable” the content will be.
While an entertaining, relevant and fashionably fabulous film, The Devil Wears Prada 2 pays homage to its original predecessor while simultaneously confronting the death of journalism head-on rather than shying away from it. With a spectacular cast, incredible and gorgeous costumes, and a very well-written script, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is definitely worth the $30 movie ticket.
Read more from Marina Cerra HERE.
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