From box office phenomenon Paul Feig, The Housemaid stars Sydney Sweeney as Millie, a young woman with a troubled past and present who gets a job with an uber-rich family. The head of the household appears to be Nina (Amanda Seyfried), a woman who appears quite charming but remains a privileged woman with a victim complex who makes Millie’s life miserable. Beside Nina is Andrew, the source of the wealth but who also seems to be the source of the charm. Beside each other, Nina appears to be the stain on Andrew’s perfect life and, as Millie navigates the impossible tasks and contradictory instructions from Nina, it becomes clear their relationship will not remain stable.
Amanda Seyfried does a really good job playing a character who is part manic and endearing when she needs to be find her but also not so much that we lose sight of her humanity. Her character takes a proper turn and development though the montages that help explain her backstory. The backstory is not as full with detail as you would want and yet they seem a bit too long. A lot of the information explained in that sequence seems to be already delivered. This is the part that makes the film overall feel long, despite the fact that most scenes are filled with some effective form of tension. The overall story pacing feels slow and it could have benefitted from a shorter runtime.
Even so, the film does a good job at inserting fun and subverting your expectations. It leans into the tone of a modern novel romance film using music that is comfortable and feels fitting to the soapy moments that we see. The film also utilizes filmmaking techniques to bring out the tension that is supposed to be baked into it, some sound effects and music insists there is tension when the story doesn’t provide it. Sometimes though, this is used ironically to create uncomfortable humour which helps engage the viewer. The pace in the first half is really efficient because it could be its own story in itself but then, takes the film to a new place to explore the real thematic heart.
Characters often do things that don’t make the most sense and don’t try to get out of unfavorable situations in ways that feel available to them. Not exploring some of those actions felt like it made the film more flat and less immersive. Paul Feig, while a smart and savvy filmmaker, does direct this a bit flatly. However, Housemaid does a good job holding your attention and keeps you guessing, especially on the first half. Also, in the third act, certain things happen that just do not feel believable and are such strong coincidences that immersion in the characters’ emotional journey does not feel as impactful. There felt like more potential to pull influence from other domestic thrillers and dramas like Gone Girl, The Handmaiden or Rosemary’s Baby. It would have been interesting to subvert the soapy parts with this kind of intense style with a genuine attempt at making the themes serious and thought-provoking.
In the pantheon of novel adaptations, this likely flattens the material a bit but we are let into Millie’s inner world pretty well and the film helps communicate her inner thoughts in ways that aren’t too obtuse in most scenes. It’s a film that gets to some honest places about relationships, trauma and social perception. For some, it could provoke serious conversations like the book likely did for myself. However, it really felt like it leaned too much into the soapy entertainment part and doesn’t pull back the curtain to the heart of the story smoothly enough to pull off the magic trick that this cinematic adaption aimed to do.
The Housemaid is available in theatres on Friday, December 19th, 2025.
