Off the Shelf Media

The term “chick flick” has struck fear into the hearts of men for decades. The sheer thought of having to watch what our wives or girlfriends would like on movie night instead of Saving Private Ryan for the fifth time is an idea so absurd; the idea of sitting through a love story about Jennifer Garner turning into an adult or something would stop even the toughest and hardest blue-collar men in their tracks. 

But what if there was one movie, one film, so engaging, so thrilling, that even the unfathomable idea of sitting through could be tolerable, hell, even enjoyable. 

I am, of course, talking about the legendary The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

The Devil Wears Prada, first and foremost, is a great movie. Take away the stigma of the chick flick; at its core, the film is a psychological thriller showcasing a career performance by Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly. 

A tour de force

Miranda Priestly stands tall against the most iconic villains in all of cinema. Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, or Heath Ledger‘s Joker. Yet, the magic of The Devil Wears Prada is in using the term villain to describe her. 

Miranda Priestly served a higher power: fashion. 

All those men scoffed again, and to them I say, “It’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry” 

You see, it’s quite easy to look at the film at a quick glance and assume what I said about her being the villain to be true. I mean, the title of the movie is calling her the devil. But if we buy into the world TDWP creates, fashion is a religion that rules the world of these characters. 

That’s why she is “the devil” because Miranda Priestly understands how important her “job”- no, her religion- is to the well-being of the planet. 

Hyperbole maybe, but as movie watchers, we have to buy into the world they create for us, and buying into that world skyrockets The Devil Wears Prada far beyond the “average” chick flick. It’s not just about seeing her berate Emily, calling her an “incubus of viral plague,” but about understanding how her worldview has allowed her to achieve the great heights she has in her career. 

The film is also expertly written, allowing the perfect amount of screen time management to understand this character. 

Only twice do we see the woman underneath the veil of the devil, and both of those scenes add an incredible amount of depth to her character. 

We understand what it’s like to function at such a high level in the world of the fashion business and the sacrifices one is forced to make. 

And then there’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026). 

But what about the sequel?

In short? It’s a sequel 20 years later that honestly had no shot at comparing to the masterpiece of its predecessor. 

I don’t think this movie is terrible by any means; it has some great moments and attempts to tell an interesting story in the context of the modern world. 

But fundamentally, it doesn’t work because we can only fall for the trick once. 

Old dog; no new tricks

The movie opens and immediately acknowledges how smartphones and scrolling have completely changed the landscape of journalism. Essentially, deconstructing the religion of fashion that the first movie so desperately built up. 

And we now know what is behind the veil of The Devil Herself.

Because of this, I don’t think we can truly compare the two films in the same light, as the 20-year-later sequel quite literally could not do the same thing. 

And again, I don’t think that makes it a bad movie; I enjoyed some of the jokes. Stanley Tucci is incredible, and his relationship with Anne Hathaway gives us such a warm feeling of true respect and love. 

Yet the whole time I was taking it in, it just felt like, “Why are we here?” 

I didn’t need this follow-up. In regard to the idea of the religion of fashion, watching it be deconstructed as it has in our modern world is just kind of a bummer. 

And maybe that’s my own selfishness wanting to ignore the world we live in today, but on the other hand, I think in some ways this entry cheapens the first. 

It’s very similar to the reboot of the Star Wars films. We beat the empire back in the 80s, just to learn that “evil will always come back around.”

It kinda just makes the first time we defeated the emperor pointless. Is he just gonna get resurrected? Or something? It’s following up a classic with Star Wars Episode IX treatment. 

So if you were looking for a deep dive into the plot points and moments of The Devil Wears Prada 2, I apologize that you read this far, but honestly, I think you should just give the first one another watch and leave it at that. 

Let that story be the story, and forget about whatever happened 20 years later. 

But, hey, that’s just my two cents. 

Caleb Hearon was also criminally underutilized, and I’ll leave it at that.