The Devil Wears Prada 2 has a pair of enormous red stilettos to fill. Over the past 20 years, the original film has had as big of a cultural impact as a movie could want (memorable quotes, references in other media, halloween costumes, etc). In regard to long awaited sequels to beloved movies, there seems to be two ways to go about them: either they’re true to the original and exist simply as an ode to a classic (Top Gun: Maverick) or the former cast members get together to send a new batch of characters on their own adventure (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Force Awakens, Scream V). What The Devil Wears Prada 2 gets right is knowing what kind of movie its audience wants: the former. With the main cast returning, along with most of the creatives behind the camera, the filmmakers deliver a delicious and luxurious return to Runway.

We immediately are caught up with Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) where, within the same scene of finding out she’s been working successfully as a journalist, she and her co-workers get fired via text message. Meanwhile, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is embroiled in a scandal of her own involving foreign sweatshops. As the news of her cancellation goes viral, Andy is hired as the new features editor of Runway to help put out the fires. Before you’re even settled in your seat, the core cast including Nigel (Stanley Tucci) are reunited. It goes the way you’d expect: Andy is overly excited to be there and Miranda doesn’t remember who she is. The opening is rather stale, especially compared to the exquisite introduction of Miranda in the original film, but it works for table setting and shaking out the cobwebs of these 20 year old characters.

Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs in 20th Century Studios’ THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Unfortunately, it does take a while to settle down. Runway is now mostly a website and social media accounts so we have to sit through some expositional scenes explaining how things are a little different than they were in 2006. Most of the first hour of this film is Andy meeting new characters like Caleb Hearon, who plays Miranda’s second assistant, and making references to the original as if those are jokes. In a particularly egregious sequence, Andy runs around Manhattan attempting to land an interview with a reclusive celebrity (played by Lucy Liu) and it just plays like a watered down version of the original’s Harry Potter manuscript scene. Luckily, the film does eventually distance away from being sole fan service.

(L-R) Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling in 20th Century Studios’ THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Rather than updating Miranda to 2026 standards, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna turns her into a fish out of water in a post-Me Too era work environment. Gone are the jokes about Anne Hathaway being fat. They’ve been replaced with Miranda being told she can’t say things like that anymore. It’s a rather deflating place to have such a titanic figure to be in. It’s like telling Hannibal Lecter he shouldn’t eat people because it’s not nice. As jarring of a change as it is, it allows Streep to dig deeper into the character. There are so many scenes of Miranda worried and contemplating her career that feel like everything that was happening when the camera was on Andy in the original movie. Streep brings the heat, as always, and it’s nice to see her do Miranda in a different light.

The new cast members get sprinkled throughout the film. BJ Novak is the son of the CEO of Elias-Clarke. Kenneth Braunagh plays Miranda’s new husband, who is simply the sweetest man that’s ever existed. Justin Theroux is an immature tech billionaire a la Elon Musk that steals every scene he’s in. He’s dating Emily (Emily Blunt) who is now an executive at Dior. Blunt is undoubtedly the MVP of the film. She is locked in and feels like she never stopped playing this character for a second. Her and Theroux have some moments that might be the funniest scenes in film this year.

Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton in 20th Century Studios’ THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Recounting the plot of this film is a bit of a fool’s errand. There’s a new villain every 30 minutes, conflicts get solved instantly, and new struggles arise. It feels closer to several episodes of a The Devil Wears Prada mini-series. It’s difficult not to make the comparison to the Sex And The City movies in particular. Both run through a large number of sub-plots throughout their long runtimes, both feature big name celebrity cameos and they both climax with extravagant international trips. The fortunate thing about The Devil Wears Prada 2 is that you feel happy going on this journey. The film feels expensive and they put every dollar on screen. If we don’t get a third film, I would gladly settle for a Mad Men style Runway spin off show.

4 out of 5 stars

The Devil Wears Prada 2 delivers on everything a fan of the original would want when bringing such a monumental story to the present day. It’s gorgeous, lavish, funny, and is going to absolutely slay at the box office. That’s all.