The Housemaid (2025 | USA | 131 minutes | Paul Feig)
I tend to think of myself as a bit of an expert when it comes to twisty, psychological thrillers, often (to my own annoyance) able to guess the revelations filmmakers are saving for the final twist. But The Housemaid delivers twists even I couldn’t see coming. It’s over-the-top and dramatic, but director Paul Feig, working with a script by Rebecca Sonnenshine, based on Freida McFadden’s best-selling 2022 novel, manages to fill the film with humor, cleverness, and a refreshingly feminist message.
Sydney Sweeney plays Millie Calloway, a struggling young woman who lives in her car and is interviewing for a live-in housemaid position, wearing fake glasses and a completely fabricated resume. Despite feeling she bombed the interview, Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) offers Millie the job, and she almost immediately moves in.
Nina gives Millie a grand tour of her mini-mansion, (including a second living room “we barely ever use,” this will clearly be a huge upgrade from sleeping in her car and bathing in diner bathrooms), ending in Millie’s attic room, an A-frame space that feels like heaven to her.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for Millie to realize this job might be too good to be true. Nina, a spoiled, wealthy housewife who, it seems, has never had to work a day in her life, begins throwing tantrums and fabricating stories about Millie’s incompetence. But Millie really needs this job and, despite her better judgment, decides to endure Nina.
Seyfried and Sweeney are the perfect duo, and Feig has created the ideal backdrop for their dynamic to unfold. Seyfried, usually cast as sympathetic, innocent characters, is intense here but brings a layered complexity to Nina that might have been lost with a more stereotypically harsh actress. Both characters hide their flaws behind different visions of perfection, and both actresses portray this ‘double life’ beautifully.
Brandon Sklenar, as Nina’s handsome husband Andrew, is unfortunately little more than eye candy for the majority of the film; he seems to be in most scenes to look hot and to cause Nina to worry about his intentions with the new girl she’s brought in. Andrew’s character is the main reason I have issues with this film. His role, perhaps intentionally, is flatter than Nina’s or Millie’s, lacking the nuance that makes the performances of the women so compelling. It’s no secret that Nina’s “hot saint” of a husband has flaws (because we all do), but Sklenar plays him as if he has no imperfections, making his scenes feel cheesy and unrealistic.
This is where the film starts to lose me. Feig has spent much of his career directing comedies, and while he’s navigated the line before with films like A Simple Favor, the challenge of crafting a genuinely funny psychological thriller becomes apparent as the movie falls flat. It’s close to hitting all the marks, but when it misses, it makes it hard to stay fully immersed.
While The Housemaid leans a bit more toward guilty pleasure rom-com than pure psychological thriller genius, it remains an enjoyable, well-paced domestic thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, make you laugh out loud, and will even have you wanting to cover your eyes more than once.
The Housemaid arrives in theaters on December 19th
Photo credit: Daniel McFadden courtesy of Lionsgate