The Devil Wears Prada 2

With Freakier Friday last year, the Practical Magic sequel looming and now The Devil Wears Prada 2, is there no end to our demand for nostalgia? While these sequels could be seen as cynical cash-grabs, there’s undoubtedly something attractive about revisiting old cinematic friends, in this case, Andy Sachs and Miranda Priestly.

Now an award-winning journalist, Andy (Anne Hathaway) is thrust back into the icy arms of Miranda (Meryl Streep) after her company implements mass layoffs. She’s hired as Features Editor at Runway to remedy a PR crisis relating to Miranda promoting a sweatshop-utilising fast fashion brand.

Hathaway is as charming as ever, and it’s wonderful seeing the talented actress experience renewed appreciation following the 2010s Hathahate campaign. Emily Blunt seamlessly returns to her iconic snark as Emily (now a Dior exec), while Stanley Tucci’s Nigel is imbued with a human touch in contrast to his stereotypically catty persona in the original. And, once again, Streep does her Anna Wintour-adjacent routine with aplomb.

In addition to it being campy good fun for the sartorially-minded (and oh boy is the cornucopia of designer clothing a feast for the eyes for fashionistas), the sequel touches on some timely issues. Most pertinent is the undermining of journalistic integrity thanks to AI. As Nigel puts it (in reference to Runway ceasing to be a physical magazine), “We are digitised, downloaded, in the ether.”

Such sentiments are also a reminder of something that has since befallen Hollywood: the death of the movie star. At 23, Hathaway was a mere slip of a girl in the original, and realistically, which early-20s, Gen-Z actress has reached that level of acclaim and stardom today? Moreover, there are a few great, truly memorable comedies in the modern movie milieu. It’s therefore no wonder that fans are desperately holding onto the classics synonymous with their childhoods and teenage years.

Here’s the thing: The Devil Wears Prada 2 is by no means groundbreaking, but it hits all the right notes. A-list cast? Check. High-fashion? Check. And, of course, the most magical ingredient of them all: nostalgia. Ultimately, the film harks back to an era in which entertainment was not dictated by the whims of streaming platforms, and the movie-going experience necessitated an exciting outing to the cinema. And considering all that Millennials have been through over the past two decades, no one can deny the comfort of a cosy noughties throwback.