Spoilers below. <\/em><\/p>\n Are dreams worth pursuing at any cost?<\/p>\n Back in 2006, The Devil Wears Prada <\/em>posed that question<\/a>, chronicling the journey of Andrea \u201cAndy\u201d Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a plucky, eager-to-please millennial who couldn\u2019t get hired for the kind of \u201cserious\u201d journalism job she longed for, despite her fancy degree from Northwestern University and impressive portfolio. Through hilarity and happenstance, she instead became a low-level assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the villainous editor-in-chief of Runway<\/em> magazine. Hijinks ensued, and, ultimately, the hellish experience helped Andy get the glowing reference from Miranda that would cement her path forward as a newspaper reporter.<\/p>\n True to the rom-com genre, the original film is wrapped in a bow of optimism, suggesting that while hustle culture may be costly\u2014to one\u2019s health, relationships, sanity, etc.\u2014rest assured, it does<\/em> pay off in the end. If you were berated by your boss, chronically underpaid, or downright exploited along the way, that\u2019s just the price to be paid for Following Your Dreams\u2122.<\/p>\n Twenty years later, though, the sequel doesn\u2019t seem so sure.<\/p>\n In The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/em><\/a>, we learn that over the last two decades, Andy realized her dream of being a globe-trotting, award-winning investigative journalist. In fact, she\u2019s in the middle of taking home yet another accolade when she and her entire team of editors and writers are axed due to budget cuts\u2014via text. This opening scene illustrates the painful conundrum many working professionals find themselves in, at one point or another: You can be incredibly talented, do everything right, receive recognition from your peers, and still<\/em> be on the chopping block. (And, in Andy\u2019s case, she didn\u2019t even have clean, running water in her dilapidated apartment to come home to.)<\/p>\n Andy tells her BFF Lily (Tracie Thoms) that everyone she knows is experiencing some kind of personal and\/or professional tumult\u2014layoffs, consolidation, burnout\u2014all while attempting to tick off the life milestones we were always taught to prioritize and pursue: marriage, homes, kids. It\u2019s a sentiment that deeply resonates for those of us raised for a world that no longer exists. For millennials like Andy, and Gen Z especially, job security is a thing of the past<\/u><\/a>, buying a house and starting a family<\/u><\/a> is more fantasy than reality, and sociopolitical upheaval is hindering our ability to plan for the near- <\/u>or<\/em><\/u> long-term<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n This is a new world, and no one is safe.<\/p>\n Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Even Emily (Emily Blunt), the once-faultless first assistant, is cracking. Though she seems to have risen to the upper echelons of the fashion world as a high-powered exec at Dior, the reality is a bit sadder and, quite frankly, darker. After leaving her marriage to \u201ca pathological narcissist\u201d\u2014but still having to co-parent two kids with him\u2014she dates the ick-inducing billionaire Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux), who she later admits was no more than an ideal \u201cpatron.\u201d<\/p>\n The sequel provides striking portraits of two women who pursued their respective dreams and achieved them, only for careers to crumble and marriages to fall apart. Andy never married and has frozen her eggs, presumably until she can afford to have kids either solo or coupled; Emily, meanwhile, seems legitimately traumatized from both her marriage and her fraught departure from Runway<\/em> to Dior.<\/p>\n Both women pursued and attained their dreams. Then things fell apart, as they do.<\/p>\n Who \u201cwon\u201d? Does it matter?<\/p>\n Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n In the sequel, Miranda, steely and scary as ever, makes a comical, somewhat noble effort to be more politically correct in the office. She hangs up her own coat now, too, because of various HR complaints over the years. She\u2019s up for a major promotion at Runway<\/em>\u2019s parent company, but when the CEO dies suddenly, his self-serving son takes the reins. Miranda stumbles into the rather unchic position of having to placate a billionaire bro who\u2019s half her age, just to keep her job and ensure the magazine\u2019s future.<\/p>\n While Miranda never overtly grovels, the power dynamics between her and Jay Ravitz (B.J. Novak) probably feel painfully familiar to many women who are perpetually maneuvering around aloof, entitled men in the workplace and beyond. These Kendall Roy-esque types, who quite literally inherit their power, money, and influence, can (and do) get away with so much more than women ever could or would.<\/p>\n If the original movie was both an acceptance of and ode to millennial hustle culture, the sequel softens that argument. The rise-and-grind, no-days-off mentality hasn\u2019t completely disappeared; it\u2019s merely evolved, because people today have to fight harder for fewer and fewer opportunities. And while most of us know this relentless hustle isn\u2019t exactly healthy, by nature of operating in late-stage capitalism, it\u2019s kind of, well, necessary.<\/p>\n At the very least, the sequel offers a word of caution. In one of the final scenes, Miranda and Andy are in a Maybach after securing the Elias-Clarke takeover deal with Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu). Miranda reveals that she knows about Andy\u2019s six-figure deal to write an expos\u00e9 about her. Not only does she encourage Andy to write the book, but she also instructs her to include all of the unflattering details, to not leave anything out. She\u2019s impatient. She\u2019s imperious. She\u2019s missed a lot of her kids\u2019 lives. \u201cPeople should know there\u2019s a cost,\u201d she tells Andy.<\/p>\n Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Miranda\u2019s confession is a departure from what she told Andy 20 years ago in Paris: \u201cEverybody wants this.\u201d Even if that were true, she\u2019s finally admitting that being a trailblazer requires sacrifice. She crystallizes what women know in our bones, but sometimes shy away from discussing openly, often out of shame or fear of judgment. We understand that hard work and hustle may \u201cpay off\u201d in the end, but that there are<\/em> costs to securing the \u201cdream\u201d job, the \u201cdream\u201d marriage, the \u201cdream\u201d house, the \u201cdream\u201d family.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s defending how we handle our choices around marriage and motherhood, dealing with discrimination and unequal pay at work, or managing poorer health outcomes<\/u><\/a>, the price of getting to\u2014and staying at\u2014the top as a woman is incredibly steep. And yet, as of 2025, just 11 percent<\/u><\/a> of Fortune 500 companies were run by women. The 119th Congress was made up of 28 percent women<\/u><\/a>. Considering we make up half of the population, more change needs to happen to truly level the playing field for everyone who wants a shot at the dream, whatever that means to them.<\/p>\n Of course, none of this is to say that dreams are futile. Miranda adds that despite the costs, she still loves her work. After all this time, it\u2019s clear Miranda\u2019s strength and success stem from her ability to hold these two truths together: Dreams are costly and you get to decide whether those costs are worth it.<\/p>\n![\"anne](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/e9231e99-c9ad-496d-be4c-981ed20a44c6.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:*\" "\\"THE")
<\/p>\n![\"meryl](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/be9a66ec-301a-408d-a32b-ce5a0f841f34.png?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:*\" "\\"meryl")
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