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The Housemaid

The Housemaid (from 2025—not to be confused with the 2010 film of the same name) is based on the first book in a psychological thriller series by author Freida McFadden. Sydney Sweeney stars as Millie Calloway. a young woman down on her luck who’s struggling after being released on parole from jail. While living in her car, Millie applies for a live-in maid position with a wealthy family, Nina (Amanda Seyfried) & Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) Winchester, and their young daughter, Cecelia (Indiana Elle) and—to her delight—she gets the job. But, of course, once Millie starts working her maid gig, that’s when the real horror show begins. Despite acting like she was in Millie’s corner in the beginning, Nina deliberately creates problems for Millie that make her look bad. It turns out that Nina is a whack-job who’s served time at a mental facility for trying to kill her own daughter when she was a baby, and now Nina’s got Millie in her sights.

If The Housemaid sounds like some sudsy soap opera chronicling the life or death battle between two hot vixens in a posh mansion (with a simply stunning interior design!), well, that’s because it is. It’s a big, glitzy soap that doesn’t try to be anything more than a dopey Lifetime/Hallmark Channel movie, only with R-rated swear words and gore—a LOT of gore. Sweeney, who managed to make duds like Madame Web watchable with just her presence—as well as shine in Ron Howard’s Eden, and the also good horror film Immaculate—handles this goofy part with aplomb. Amanda Seyfried, who did a superb job starring as a Philadelphia street cop in Peacock’s Long Bright River, also does a deft turn as the wacky Nina. It’s a clear case of both actresses being better than the material they’re working with, which they easily elevate by their presence and talents.

It also helps that The Housemaid is directed by Paul Feig, a filmmaker who’s had his share of hits (Bridesmaids) and misses (2016’s Ghostbusters: Answer The Call). My favorite Feig flick is A Simple Favor, a crime thriller that displayed some great chemistry between its leads Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. The Housemaid has that same energy, with Sweeney and Seyfried effortlessly acting out the soap opera tropes in the first half of the film, before the major twist midway that upends everything. I must confess to zoning out a bit at the ‘Housewives of New Jersey’ antics in the first half—until the big plot twist revived my interest in the film, which presents its story line from that point forward in a completely different, and much darker, light.

But make no mistake, while Feig’s A Simple Favor displayed a nice Hitchcockian flair with comedic overtones, The Housemaid, even after the big twist, is still a goofy little Lifetime flick at heart. The movie is very campy overall, which makes it fun to watch, if not to listen to. The off kilter soundtrack is very intrusive and annoying at times, with the pop songs sounding weirdly out of place compared to the action that is happening on screen. Maybe it’s part of the overall camp that the film leans into in its second half. Whatever. I still enjoyed The Housemaid enough to be happy to hear that a sequel is in the works. Another movie with the always watchable Sydney Sweeney getting tangled up in more lurid soap opera plots? Oh yes, please. --SF

The Housemaid is available on streaming and physical media.

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