The Devil Wears Prada 2: The Devil’s Roast Cocktail 🥁🥁🥁

Year Released: 2026
Directed by: David Frankel
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci
(PG 13, 119 min.)
Genre: Comedy

“May the bridges I burn light my way.” – Emily Charlton (former assistant to Miranda Priestly)

The actors aged better than the film.  Basically, we get a stagnant series of set pieces linked by some drama, but the sting is gone.  Who wants Miranda effectively neutered or a too happy ending that borders on sappy?

And those set pieces seem interchangeable, too.  How many parties with glittering gowns and aloof runway models can we take? Not to mention another aging icon, Lady Ga Ga, still trying to strut her stuff.  Not quite as cringeworthy as Madonna’s recent leg over the rail escapade, but close enough.

And we have too many links to the now 20-year-old original as well.  Are the writers and producers as egotistical as Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), thinking that first film was engrained on our brains like the Rosetta Stone.

I had to rewatch the original to get all the little inside baseball humor.

And that made me realize even more how superior the first film was.  We miss those endless repetitions of Miranda throwing her huge purse and coats on her assistant’s desk and her many waspish comment or stares.

Maybe one reason The Devil Wears Prada 2 has lost some of its sting is the timing.  It is 20 years since the original, and times have changed.  We no longer tolerate or even look up to the in-your-face decadence of overpriced gowns or purses that cost a down payment on a house.  Or least we pretend we don’t.

We now empathize with the down trodden, or again, we pretend to. 

Empathizing about the down trodden. That is exactly what Andy (Anne Hathaway) has done in the 20 years since she left Mirada out in the cold.  She is a serious ward winning journalist now, but the world being what it is, she and the whole serious magazine she works for are terminated minutes before she receives her latest accolade.

And this tidbit is a bit of an overreach, too, since now only 28% of Americans believe that journalists are telling the truth or acting in the public’s best interests 

The vibe that supported the original is gone, gone, gone.

Of course, a lot of that timing error is due to the behind the scenes battle that Anna Wintour – the longtime editor of Vogue Magazine and the supposed inspiration for Streep’s Miranda Priestly – has staged to keep both the original and the sequel out of theaters.

Perhaps that is why the politicly savvy or some might say the political opportunist Meryl Streep goes somewhere else for her role’s inspiration. In a recent interview she said the following:

Meryl Streep based her iconic portrayal of Miranda Priestly on Clint Eastwood and legendary filmmaker Mike Nichols. 

Streep revealed on  that she combined the traits of the two men to create Miranda's commanding demeanor: 

·       Clint Eastwood: Streep channeled Eastwood's "quiet authority," specifically adopting his signature habit of never raising his voice. Instead of yelling, she used a soft, measured tone that forced people to lean in and strain to hear her commands. 

·       Mike Nichols: Streep heavily imitated the sly, understated humor that Nichols used while directing. She wanted Miranda's biting remarks to carry a dark humor rather than just being outright mean. 

At any rate Andy is back at Miranda’s Runway Magazine, which sadly, is mostly a digital affair now.  Andy, the serious journalist is again peddling fashion fairytales with the best of them, working for clickbait like everyone else shunned from the airwaves.

I won’t go into the convoluted plot, but suffice it to say that the ending is a little too happy for Different Drummer’s taste – sappy as we hinted earlier.  All is forgiven, backstabbers become best friends or at least more cordial “frenemies,” and even Miranda thaws a bit.

If we were looking for a balm to put on any bruised egos, or a saccharine story to lull us to sleep, there is always the Hallmark channel.

The Devil Who Wears Prada has been dehorned, and this critic is none too happy about it.  

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Even if Miranda is almost neutered in The Devil Wears Prada 2, she still has her love for coffee.  Let’s allow Brit and Co to fix up a cocktail in celebration of that caffeine addiction.

“Directly inspired by Miranda Priestly’s signature coffee order, this take on the classic espresso martini is elevated even more with a pinch of salt and golden espresso beans for the garnish. “ Brit and Co

The Devil’s Roast Cocktail

Here's how to make it:

1. Add 1 ½ ounces Grey Goose Vodka, 1 shot of espresso, ¾ ounces coffee liqueur, and a pinch of salt to a shaker.

2. Shake and strain into a martini glass.

3. Garnish with three espresso beans. (Coat them using gold edible glitter for a shiny, Instagram-worthy effect.)

(via Grey Goose Vodka)

Brit and Co