Andy Sachs returns to Runway magazine to work under editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly after a 20-year hiatus in The Devil Wears Prada 2, opening in Prague and cinemas worldwide this weekend. While the central relationship is not quite as gratifying this time around—and, in keeping with the times, Meryl Streep’s once-megalomaniacal boss has been largely declawed—this belated sequel scores points for becoming a genuine continuation rather than a retread of the 2006 original, and delivers a stylish return to the world of fashion inspired by author Lauren Weisberger’s experiences as an assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Two decades after leaving Runway, Anne Hathaway’s Andy has built a successful career in journalism—successful enough to earn an award in the film’s breezy opening montage. But the celebration is short-lived: reflecting the current state of the publishing industry, Andy and her entire newsroom are fired by text before she can even deliver her acceptance speech.
Things at Runway aren’t much better, and a scandal involving advertiser Dior is causing major optics problems. But the timing is serendipitous. Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman), owner of Runway’s parent company, reaches out to Andy with an offer to take over editorial duties at the magazine and right the ship—an opportunity that would not only benefit Andy, but also her stable of writers who have just lost their jobs.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is at its nostalgic best as Andy returns to the editorial offices of Runway to deliver a heartfelt speech in front of Streep’s Miranda about how much she is looking forward to working with her again—only to be met with an entirely genuine, “Do I know you?” from her egocentric former boss. Irv has neglected to inform Miranda that he has hired her former assistant to take over editorial duties at her struggling magazine, and the stage is set for another contentious working relationship.
But the times, they are changing, and Miranda can no longer relentlessly berate her underlings; new assistant Amari (Simone Ashley) repeatedly cuts her off before she can deliver her trademark cynicism. Streep remains just as vibrant in the role as she was in the first film, but this version of the character has been noticeably mellowed, much to Andy’s frustration, as she watches a team of tech bros led by Irv’s son (B.J. Novak) walk all over her while dictating the future of the publication.
The film offers a kinder, gentler version of Miranda, and as it progresses the relationship between her and Andy begins to resemble the dynamic between Hathaway and Robert De Niro in The Intern, with the savvy young leader forming a grudging respect for the old guard. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the quiet bond the characters form here is a little less satisfying in dramatic terms than the one-sided passive-aggressive battle that drove the original.
Here, the central conflict is externalized into larger corporate intrigue as the future of Runway hangs in the balance, drawing in Bezos-like mogul Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux), his ex-wife Sasha (Lucy Liu), and his latest romantic interest—who just happens to be Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), Andy’s former Runway colleague, now running Dior’s flagship store in New York.
Kenneth Branagh is underused as Miranda’s new husband, as is the charming Patrick Brammall, who plays Andy’s love interest in a subplot that goes nowhere. But The Devil Wears Prada 2 does right by Stanley Tucci’s Nigel Kipling, Miranda’s devoted art director, who gets a small but satisfying storyline of his own that lands with more emotional weight than much of what surrounds the leads.
Streep and Blunt are fun to watch here, but both characters have been softened for the sequel, and Aline Brosh McKenna’s script bends over backward to redeem them; but these characters were more interesting when they were meaner, and the performers lend them more empathy than the script ever could. Hathaway remains effortlessly charming as Andy, but she, too, has little room to grow. The film’s biggest narrative stumble comes during the climax, when back-to-back montages show these characters executing plans the screenplay has purposefully obscured. It adds a sense of narrative surprise, but robs the audience of the chance to invest more fully in how those turns are earned.
Still, The Devil Wears Prada 2 delivers where it most needs to: in the fantasy of fashion itself. Costume design is consistently sharp, with Hathaway and Streep both given a striking parade of looks that feel suitably aspirational without tipping into parody. The Milan-set finale is especially lavish, with elegant production design lending the final act a sense of scale the film has been building toward, culminating in a dinner staged beneath da Vinci’s The Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie—an impressive flourish both within the story and as a feat of location filmmaking. Cameos from fashion and fashion-adjacent royalty, including Lady Gaga, Donatella Versace, and Czech supermodel Karolína Kurková, add another layer of glossy appeal.
Technically, however, the film is less polished than its wardrobe. Florian Ballhaus’ cinematography is surprisingly flat, with a washed-out digital sheen and an image that feels artificially brightened in post-production. The original film had far more texture and visual contrast, and even the second-unit establishing shots of New York and Milan here look better than the principal photography. Sound mixing is also inconsistent, with scenes set in bustling offices and crowded restaurants rendered with the oddly hushed acoustics of an empty library. While by no means fatal flaws, this is the second major Hollywood release in recent months, following Scream 7, that has these kinds of glaring issues.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is ultimately an entertaining and unexpectedly graceful return to one of the more enduring studio comedies of the 2000s. It may sand down some of what made its characters so deliciously sharp the first time around, but it compensates with charm, confidence, and a genuine willingness to move them forward. Less biting than its predecessor but no less stylish, this is a sequel that understands exactly what audiences came to see—and delivers enough wit, glamour, and star power to make the return worthwhile.
