If there’s anything The Housemaid gets right from the get-go, it’s that a film’s title must work overtime.
Helmed by Paul Feig — he of Bridesmaids chaos and Freaks and Geeks heart — the film takes great pleasure in scrubbing away at domestic bliss until it shines with menace. Prepare yourself: this isn’t some story about folding towels and dusting the tops of picture frames. Nope! It’s about folding people’s expectations into nice, neat little piles… and then lighting them on fire.
Based on Freida McFadden’s twisty-turny novel, The Housemaid welcomes us to the aggressively Instagrammable home of Nina and Andrew Winchester (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, respectively), a place so pristine and grandiose it might as well have a velvet rope and a “Do Not Enter” label.
Millie (Sydney Sweeney) enters as the down-on-her-luck housemaid, whose dream job in luxury home care feels like a perfectly lighted fairy tale. But as we learned from the film’s trailers, this is the kind of fairy tale where Millie’s assigned attic room is a little too cozy, smiles are a little too tight, and the walls feel like they’re listening.
Feig, playing off a script by Rebecca Sonnenshine, rolls out the tale as a heady clash of wills, constantly turning the tables and urging us to stay on our toes. Who holds the reins in this tale of empowerment? Who is the prey? And who is merely feigning chores while taking stock of all the ways out of this nightmare?
The movie's biggest success lies in how much it makes us change sides… even within a single scene. As soon as we feel sure about who wears the black hat, The Housemaid gives a soft cough and offers us a slice of doubt on whole wheat artisan bread.
Sweeney turns in an incredible performance as Millie, showing a need for help with just enough strength to keep us guessing if she really needs it. She is all wide-eyed and willing one moment and ready to fight for her life the next. Across from her, Seyfried gives a wonderfully sharp performance as Nina Winchester, a perfectionist so tightly wound she could double as a home safety inspector. Seyfried uses charm and weakness against us, making her Nina both endearingly captivating and deeply unsettling. Sklenar fills out the three-way story with a quiet, careful presence that always feels a bit shady, simply because it’s so calm.
Feig deploys tricks straight out of the Hitchcock playbook — uneasy framing, loaded silences, and the sense that calm comfort is always temporary. He never lets us fully relax. Just when we get settled in, here comes another whammy – sometimes obvious, sometimes secretly disguised as a red herring wearing a compelling smile. Sure, a few turns are predictable, but they’re staged with such confidence that we don’t mind being a step ahead. The fun comes from watching the movie catch us off guard anyway!
If The Housemaid sometimes takes what feels like the scenic route to its final reveal, it’s because it does. But that long ride is all part of it. The destination might be simple, but getting there is a cheerfully nail-biting maze of judgments, assumptions, and misread intentions. Feig has an unrelenting, yet warmly humanistic eye for how fast we make up our minds about who people are… and how wrong we can be about what we think we want.
In the end, The Housemaid is not just about cleaning house. It’s about escaping one. And as the walls close ever tighter with shifting power dynamics and questionable trust, we’re invested, not just in what happens next, but in planning our own route to freedom. Think of this as a domestic thriller that knows how to make a total mess and then turn on a dime while handing us a broom with a smile.
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 131 mins
Director: Paul Feig
Writer: Rebecca Sonnenshine
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Manda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar
Genre: Drama | Thriller
Tagline: Can You Keep a Secret?
Memorable Movie Quote: "So, why do you want this job?"
Distributor: Lionsgate
Official Site: https://thehousemaid.movie/
Release Date: December 19, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A struggling woman is happy to start over as a housemaid for an affluent, elite couple.
