One could have guessed that The Devil Wears Prada 2 would be good, but it being this good was a happy, fresh and, perhaps, nostalgic surprise.

A big reason for the freshness is that Prada 2 is not based on novelist Lauren Weisberger’s sequels to the original novel. The screenplay, by returning screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, chooses a realistic, grounded story that takes its time getting to its point. The pay-off, as the story enters its third act, is excellent.

In the first film, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), an aspiring journalist, becomes the personal assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) — one of the most feared and revered editors in fashion publishing. Miranda’s magazine, Runway, is inspired by American Vogue, and she herself is an inspired version of Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. The real-world parallels in Prada 2 evolve from characters and publication to focus on bigger problems.

Andy receives an award for journalistic excellence and, during the ceremony, she and her journalist friends learn, via text message, that they have all been fired from their newspaper. Meanwhile, Runway is also in trouble — having published a puff piece about a brand that uses sweatshop labour. For course correction, Runway’s parent company hires Andy as features editor without Miranda’s consent.

Trading glamour for substance, The Devil Wears Prada 2 explores journalism, corporate culture and digital disruption while giving its iconic characters space to grow

However, the magazine is not what it used to be. No longer a print publication, its approach to stories has dramatically changed in the age of social media. People no longer read the long paragraphs; they read headlines, look at the fashion, skim the text (not recalling anything), and hit ‘like’ and ‘share’.

Prada 2 takes a while rebuilding its world in today’s reality, where corporate decisions and the need to engage overtake journalistic integrity — a reality any print media organisation knows all too well.

Returning director David Frankel isn’t in a hurry. At times, one feels there is more meandering than storytelling, but it gives the movie a relaxed pace and some time for character re-development. The story — which takes precedence over fashion and the eye-catching clothes — leads somewhere.

Every character, be it Hathaway, Streep, the wonderful Stanley Tucci as Miranda’s right hand and Emily Blunt as her former assistant, now an executive at Dior, get respectable slots in the spotlight. The performances are universally excellent.

There are some aspects that don’t gel — such as Andy’s hunt for a more posh apartment in New York to match her higher pay scale at Runway, when she already rents an affordable Lower East Side flat. Given that she knows the volatility of a career in journalism, the move to a more expensive place doesn’t make sense. Perhaps it’s due to the still-naive nature of her character?

The address change does help her meet her new love interest (Patrick Brammall) — though that interaction could have been rewritten differently.

Another nitpick: Kenneth Branagh’s role as Miranda’s passive-minded new husband. For a good while, one thought he was just her driver. One also felt, at times, that Miranda wasn’t being taken seriously as a character. Thankfully, that gets rectified fast.

These minor issues do not detract from the film’s experience. Notwithstanding the modern lenses and the not-so-film look of Prada 2, the storytelling comes as close as possible to how films felt two decades ago.

Compared to the first film, there is less flash and more restraint here. As if the fun of the old, organic, tangible world has been replaced by the unfeeling swipes of everything digital. One almost feels that the film is asking how, in this new world, old moguls such as Miranda — who has to curb her imperiousness because of PR complaints — survive?

It is a question Prada 2 not only asks but answers, the best way it can: without sermons or preachy declarations, but by telling a good, relevant, entertaining story.

Released by 20th Century Studios, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is rated PG-13 by the MPAA. The film features cool, chic clothes and a dose of reality in the guise of a commercial entertainer

The writer is Icon’s primary film reviewer

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 14th, 2026