THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2

Screening Room Review – Musad Farah – Studio 74

09TH MAY, 2026

While not matching up to the icon status and biting attitude of the first, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a surprisingly welcome sequel 20 years later. This sequel focuses less on the glamour and sharp-tongued satire of the original, as the movie seems more interested in exploring how luxury industries survive in an attention-deprived world, obsessed with social media. The film highlights the society’s shift from praising influence over affluence, as it critiques art-driven companies at the mercy of corporate consolidation. It does so, much to its credit, recognising the public resentment toward the ultra-wealthy, and accurately portraying the slow erosion of creative spaces for profit.

Meryl Streep steals the show in her return as the iconic Miranda Priestley, as we catch up with the haute couture mogul two decades after we first met her. Streep plays vicious Priestly with surprising vulnerability, with the looming mystique around the character lessened in this outing, however Streep’s screen presence is sharp as ever. With Emily Blunt’s similarly named Emily, a close second, as a scorned former employee of Miranda Priestley, who serves as an anti-heroine. Blunt’s acting chops lend credibility to her character’s conflicted motivations, and outshines Hathaway’s lead performance.

The movie still suffers from the ever more present gripes of “Netflix lighting” and mostly uninspired cinematography, that really do a disservice to the gorgeous locations and glamorous set design, and is very contradictory to the movie’s message of dedication to style and creativity to combat industry mediocrity.

Similarly, the unnecessary barrage of celebrity cameos reek of a need to stay current, and come across as a who’s who of who’s in at the moment, in the movie’s attempt to remind you that despite 20 years, this now-franchise still has it’s finger on the showbiz pulse.

Overall, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a better than expected sequel, still reliant on nostalgia, but surprisingly succeeds in modernising the themes of the original, which really are the movie’s strength.