The original Devil Wears Prada was, in its own glossy and high-heeled way, a gay and glamorous Goodfellas for women. Both films romanticized brutal, unforgiving industries governed by hierarchy, intimidation, loyalty tests, and the constant threat of professional annihilation. Both conveyed the seduction of proximity to power and the moral corrosion that comes from working your way up the ladder, no matter how many bodies must be left behind. Under such grueling, dog-eat-dog conditions, the distinction between organized crime rackets and high fashion may have come down to your W-2 form.

But while the 2006 original has endured as a contemporary classic, director David Frankel’s 2026 sequel is a disorganized mess. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a nostalgic reunion in search of a plot.