So. I have now seen The Devil Wears Prada 2 twice and I have Thoughtsâ˘.
A couple of criticisms first before going full fangirl with the Mirandy read.
Under the cut because spoilers.
First of all: somewhere in the Disney vaults there is absolutely a 4-hour-long Zack Snyder directorâs cut of this film and I need them to release it immediately....
Because the editing in places is surreal. We go from the end of Gagaâs performance, to a random aerial shot of Milan (we KNOW we are in Milan, every character is CURRENTLY IN MILAN), then back to Nigel at the same party, while Andy and Miranda vanish off on a mysterious mission that is never fully explained before later materialising in Vermont via helicopter in entirely different outfits.
The movie also seems to be trying to juggle too many messages at once:
the death of print media
AI
the collapse of curated culture
tech bros
capitalism eating art alive
cancel culture
loyalty and betrayal
female ambition and the cost of success
biblical allegory
âŚand all of those themes are good and interesting and probably beautifully developed in the mythical 4-hour version living in a vault somewhere. But in the theatrical cut, it occasionally feels less like âone coherent enemyâ and more like the characters are fighting the general concept of modernity itself.
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The callbacks were also occasionally a bit too on-the-nose. A cerulean carpet at a Runway gala is not a cute little wink to the audience, itâs a huge choice someone within the world made. Miranda Priestly does not accidentally make the symbolic centrepiece of her event blue. That woman could weaponise a napkin colour. So there should be a reason for such a bold move. Add to that the cerulean bags, street vendors and lampshades and it starts to feel like a little too much fanservice.
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THAT SAID.
The core four absolutely served. Meryl. Anne. Stanley. Emily. Absolute tour de force performances from all four of them.
And what struck me most was the thing that I have always thought was the mark of genuinely great acting: I stopped seeing the actors and just saw the characters as people. I wasnât watching Meryl Streep playing Miranda Priestly. I was watching Miranda Priestly. Same with Andy, Nigel and Emily. They slipped back into these characters so naturally it genuinely felt like these people had simply continued existing offscreen for twenty years.
Emily Blunt in particular somehow emerged from cryogenic storage exactly the same.
The supporting cast mostly worked well too, even if a lot of them primarily functioned as environmental architecture for the Runway universe. Amari and Charlie were both charming (Charlie especially had actual personality), and Sasha was genuinely compelling despite the film not giving her much material.
Jay, unfortunately, lacked presence and dude really needs to stop touching Miranda like sheâs his bro.
Benji, however, I thoroughly disliked. I understand that the film wanted a tech-bro billionaire caricature. I do. Truly. But this man was so catastrophically insufferable that I physically cannot buy Emily Charlton willingly dating him. He doesnât even have the magnetic charisma that usually makes terrible billionaire men believable. Heâs just⌠exhausting. Which accidentally weakens Emilyâs storyline because Emily may be ruthless, ambitious and emotionally constipated, but she is also intelligent and highly perceptive. I simply cannot reconcile that woman voluntarily listening to Benji explain why we donât need necks over dinner.
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Speaking of side-characters, I also took issue with the âromantic partnersâ. Not because Iâm a Mirandy shipper. I mean, I am, but I get that Mirandy is not canon and that both characters are straight in the film. So, it makes sense that at least one of them would have a partner. But they just didnât feel realâŚ
Stuart, feels TOO perfect. Heâs cultured. Gentle. Patient. Emotionally intelligent. Entirely unthreatened by Mirandaâs success. Deeply supportive. Wealthy enough not to need anything from her. Happy to simply exist beside a 76 year old woman who eclipses him in every way. In other words: a unicorn.
And I know weâre supposed to take the relationship at face value, but I genuinely cannot decide whether the film intends us to fully believe in it romantically or whether itâs deliberately presenting the relationship as something platonic. Because Miranda and Stuart donât feel like passionate soulmates; they feel like two lonely people choosing companionship. And honestly? That interpretation actually makes the relationship more emotionally interesting.
Peter is almost aggressively harmless. Like the film sat down and said: âOkay but what if we designed a boyfriend in a laboratory specifically to never challenge Andy in any meaningful way?â Heâs quirky. Sweet. Safe. Earnest. Completely non-threatening. And I understand what the film is trying to do. Heâs supposed to represent stability and emotional availability in somewhat direct contrast to Nate. But unfortunately he occasionally crosses the line from âhealthy adult manâ into âgolden retriever emotionally begging for approval.â And the problem is that Andy has fundamentally never been drawn to safety. Not in 2006. Not now. Even when she wants stability she gravitates toward intensity, challenge, sharpness, ambition and emotional complexity. Which is why poor Peter never really stood a chance the second Miranda Priestly walked back into the narrative.
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I think one of the things that made the film feel disjointed is that some important plot points feel like they were explained/dealt with in scenes that were cut for time.
Emilyâs betrayal of Miranda should have landed like a nuclear bomb emotionally and instead it arrives so abruptly that it almost feels like we skipped an entire subplot. We needed more context. More history. More evidence of resentment brewing beneath the surface.
Same with Nigel. I adored him, but part of me struggled with the fact that nothing seems to have materially changed for Nigel in twenty years. Even a new work title on his office door at the end would have helped to at least show that Miranda had finally âpaid him backâ in some way.
Also, while I loved that Nigel was the driving force behind Andy getting hired, I need more backstory. Why was he so sure she was the right person? Why does a recommendation from him immediately make Irv hire her? Have they stayed in touch? Has he been following her work? He certainly remembers her and still calls her "Six" - I can barely remember the name of co-workers from a year ago, let alone the nickname of someone else's assistant from 20 years ago. I think this reveal could have done with a bit more backstory to support it.
That said, Nigelâs âmy girlâ speech about Andy nearly took me out emotionally.
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The strongest thing the film does is Andy and Miranda themselves.
Andy especially feels wonderfully true to the woman she would realistically become. Successful, articulate, adventurous, still deeply principled, still slightly incapable of minding her own business when someone needs saving. Her rambling speech about journalism felt exactly like something the Andy of 2006 would say after becoming successful enough to stop caring whether people found her annoying. I also really appreciated that the film didnât punish her with a âhaving it all means settling down and disappearing into domesticityâ ending. She has a career. A reputation. A life. Good.
What fascinated me most, though, was the way Andy regresses around Miranda. Iâve seen people interpret this as Andy becoming weak or needy again but honestly I think itâs more complicated than that. As someone who has recently gone from being supervised to working at the same level as former seniors: old dynamics do weird things to your brain. You can KNOW you are equals professionally and still accidentally slip back into old patterns around someone who once held authority over you.
I also think Andy struggles to navigate the Miranda of 2026 because the Miranda she encounters here is not the woman she spent twenty years mythologising in her head. Sheâs not on her pedestal anymore. Thatâs not to say sheâs weak - which is a criticism Iâve read a few times. Miranda isnât weak or soft; sheâs cornered.
Miranda is still intelligent. Still dangerous. Still commanding. But for the first time we are seeing Miranda operate in a world where her authority is no longer absolute. She canât bulldoze through situations the way she used to because the landscape itself has changed around her. This Miranda feels different because the world is different.
Sheâs like a wounded lioness: still terrifying, still powerful, but suddenly forced to conserve energy, calculate risk, and tolerate humiliations she never previously would have accepted. And when she hesitates or lashes out under pressure, itâs not weakness; itâs self-preservation.
Andy doesnât know how to process Miranda under these circumstances because she has literally never seen her like this before.
That, to me, is the actual emotional core of the sequel. Not nostalgia. Not fashion. Not journalism. Itâs two women trying to reconcile who they thought the other person was with who they actually are now.
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I genuinely think the hotel suite scene with Miranda and Stuart might be my favourite scene in the entire film and it is almost entirely because Meryl Streep is operating on a level of acting that should qualify as witchcraft.
On first viewing I thought the scene was simply about Miranda being overwhelmed. On second viewing I realised there is so much more to it.
Miranda asks Stuart what she will have if she leaves Runway, and he starts listing the things she still has if she walks away:
the girls
the dog
him
All the while stepping closer and closer to Miranda. And Miranda says: âYeah.â
But hereâs the thing. Stuart hears: âYeah?â â as in, âplease reassure me.â So he moves toward her. Comforts her. Holds her.
And this is where Meryl does something absolutely insane with a single word and almost no visible movement whatsoever. She says: âYeahâŚâ and you can practically hear the unspoken âbutâ hanging in the air. Sheâs not asking him for reassurance. Sheâs holding back from saying âthatâs not enoughâ.
And then my favourite moment of the film: Miranda ripping the bow from around her neck as if she is suffocating. It immediately changes the entire emotional temperature of the scene. To me, the moment speaks of how cornered and trapped she feels. Not because of Stuart per se. But because of the future he has alluded to. Runway isnât just a job to Miranda. Itâs identity. Relevance. Control. Creation. Legacy. Language. Armour. Itâs purpose.
Then Stuart basically tells her: âIn the morning, you can decide what you want to do next.â And the film immediate cuts to Miranda pounding on Andyâs hotel room door. Iâm sorry but that is the funniest and most emotionally revealing cut in the entire film. Because apparently Miranda heard: âTake the night to think about what matters most to you.â âŚand her subconscious immediately responded: âANDREA.â
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Now. Mirandy goggles.
Andy is absolutely still hopelessly devoted to Miranda, and if anything it becomes more intense the longer sheâs at Runway.
Also, no. I do NOT buy that Miranda forgot Andy existed. Please be serious. Miranda Priestly probably remembers the blood type of an assistant who once brought her the wrong skirt in 1998. She calls Andy âAndreaâ outside Dior. The woman knows exactly who this is.
The whole âI forgot you existedâ thing reads much more like Miranda trying to regain emotional control of the interaction. Especially because her response when Andy calls her out on it in the kitchen is evasive and noncommittal. And honestly I think Andy knows sheâs lying too. Which almost makes it worse (better?) because it means both of them are immediately playing emotional chess within thirty seconds of seeing each other again.
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The kitchen scene is genuinely so loaded with subtext that I could give a TED Talk on it.
Because first of all: Miranda. Be serious. You expect me to believe you just HAPPENED to need more rosĂŠ literal seconds after watching Andy leave the table? That woman tracks movement in a room like a military drone. She knew where Andy was going and chose to follow.
And then we get: âI donât know why Iâm telling you this.â Yes you do, Miranda. You just canât admit it.
Also this is the first time in either film that Miranda has voluntarily dropped her mask to anyone. Paris doesnât count. Andy witnessed vulnerability in Paris accidentally. Miranda never intended to be seen. But here? Miranda deliberately follows Andy. Deliberately stays. Deliberately opens up. Deliberately lets the mask slip.
And Andyâs body language throughout the entire scene is fascinating. Every time Miranda speaks Andy physically moves slightly closer to her while simultaneously hugging herself like sheâs trying to hold herself back from something.
Meanwhile Miranda is looking at Andy like sheâs trying not to say something catastrophically life-altering. And then Meryl does that tiny lip bite and the fandom exploded.
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The Last Supper narrative
Miranda explicitly frames the situation as one where she KNOWS betrayal is coming. Much like Jesus knowing one of the apostles would betray him.
And what destroys me is that Andy thinks Miranda is accusing HER. So Andy is heartbroken because she would never consciously betray Miranda; while Miranda still fundamentally believes Andy is capable of betraying her because she already did â in Paris. Which adds a whole other level of emotional complexity to what theyâre each feeling.
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Also the banquet scene?
Oh my god. Andy cannot stop staring at Miranda throughout that entire sequence. And yes, objectively the film probably wants us to interpret that as concern for her former boss/the future of the company/etc. But the energy is so personal.
Thereâs even that moment where Nigel notices Andy staring and follows her eyeline toward Miranda and I swear that is the exact second he turns into Dumbledore and goes: âafter all this time?â
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And finally:
The Milan-to-Vermont editing gap is the funniest accidental gift this fandom has ever received.
Andy finds Miranda backstage and says they need to leave ânow.â They then:
get into a car
drive to a tiny airport
disappear entirely
somehow later emerge from a helicopter in Vermont
wearing different clothes
after an unspecified amount of time
with absolutely no explanation whatsoever
WHERE WERE THEY.
WHAT HAPPENED.
WHY DID THEY NEED TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.
WHEN DID THEY CHANGE CLOTHES.
WHAT TRANSPORT CHAIN WERE WE USING HERE.
Those tiny planes at the airport were not flying directly to America. Someone explain the logistics immediately.
The film accidentally leaves this giant unexplained temporal void where Miranda and Andy are apparently just travelling alone together across continents offscreen for an indeterminate amount of time.
Scratch âand they were roommates.â Replace it with: âand they were alone on a private jet together for twelve hours.â ________________________________________________________________
Overall?
Occasionally edited like a fever dream. Possibly missing forty percent of its runtime.
But emotionally rich, unexpectedly layered, extremely well acted, and absolutely fascinating to chew on.
4.5/5.
Now release the 4-hour cut, Disney.














