The Housemaid
Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) is in awe of the stunning home and seemingly perfect couple, Nina and Andrew Winchester (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, "It Ends With Us"), who reside in it, but once she begins to work for them, Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) will find herself in a trap as "The Housemaid."
Laura's Review: C-
Director Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids," "Another Simple Favor") and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine adapt Freida McFadden's bestseller, one described as a 'twisty thriller,' and deliver enjoyable trash, at least until it turns into outright trash. Seyfried plunges herself into this over the top spectacle that combines glitzy lifestyles with lowbrow shenanigans as Sweeney's necklines plunge ever deeper.
The young woman in jeans who arrives at a gated entrance mutters 'wow' as she pulls up on the grand home's circular drive and is enthusiastically greeted by Nina, a perfectly turned out young woman in pearls against cream who has set out a charcuterie board and three-tiered plate of pastries to interview a housekeeper. Millie's given a tour of the house, Nina noting a spiral staircase that is destined to cause her demise, announcing Chekov's gun. Shown the room in the attic that will be set aside for Millie, we'll note scrape marks by its lock, as if the door's been forcefully pried open. We can immediately tell there's something not quite right with the overly eager Nina, yet despite her enthusiasm for the applicant, Millie leaves telling us in voiceover narration that she won't get the job once Nina does a background check as her resume is full of lies. And so here begins the nonsensical slop that powers this pulp.
Of course Nina gets the job, something her parole officer Pam (comedienne Sarah Cooper, known for her Trump lip syncing) is happy about, clearly on Millie's side. Although we've yet to know her crime, we do learn she's spent the past ten years in jail. When she arrives back at the Winchesters, she'll be met by a sexy but surly groundskeeper, Enzo (Michele Morrone, "Another Simple Favor"), then enter the house calling for Nina. The home that was once spotless is now in total disarray, clothes lying on the living room floor, the kitchen counters and sink full of used dishes and half eaten food, as schizophrenic as its mistress apparently is. Nina tells Millie where the cleaning supplies are and leaves. The next thing we know, the home is once again spotless, Millie standing on a coffee table dusting a lighting fixture when in walks Andrew and his and Millie's seven year-old daughter Cece (Indiana Elle), who returns Millie's greeting by scolding her for having shoes on the table. Nina rushes in announcing their new maid, her live-in status news to Andrew.
While we can see that Millie was sleeping in her car, her background will be teased out over the course of the film, Nina and her husband Andrew's coming much later, giving the filmmakers time to throw around red herrings. Millie's behavior grows increasingly erratic while Andrew remains the stabilizing force, the couple the subject of gossip among Millie's frenemies Patrice (Ellen Tamaki), Jilianne (Megan Ferguson) and Lexi (Hannah Cruz), who can't believe the dreamy Andrew puts up with this loony spouse. Then there's Andrew's mother, Mrs. Winchester (Elizabeth Perkins, "The Flintstones"), a frosty patrician who entrusts her heirloom china to Millie to store as her klutz of a daughter-in-law would surely trip and break it (but not to worry, Andrew has 'a plate guy' - seriously). Things begin to come to a head when Nina finds the always-scantily-clad Millie practically snuggled up with Andrew in his man cave at 2 a.m. watching Family Feud reruns, but this potboiler has just started simmering.
The original novelist and filmmakers are so intent on continually piling on shocking new twists, they've thrown logic out the window. Why, for example, is Cece so hostile to Millie only to completely reverse herself down the road? Once the truth has been revealed, the film becomes increasingly unpleasant, not to mention ridiculous. The final scene suggests a sequel which promises to be even worse.
Sweeney, whose recent dramatic turn in "Christy" failed to attract an audience, may unfortunately find herself typecast for the curves she exploits here, a distraction, at least for some, from a glazed-over performance. Seyfried embraces the cuckoo and does so with gusto, initially keeping our interest before the narrative turns torturous (quite literally).
All of this is wrapped up in a glossy package, cinematographer John Schwartzman's ("Another Simple Favor") camera creeping about, keeping things lurking in the corners of his frames. Production designer Elizabeth J. Jones ("Bruised") makes the Winchester home a character, an open plan layout with hidden spaces. Costume designer Renée Ehrlich Kalfus, "Another Simple Favor") keeps Seyfried Chanel chic while Sweeney is crammed into push-up bras and jeans.
"The Housemaid" may entertain a crowd willing to indulge its trashy excess in a packed theater for laughs, but for those who like their mysteries to snap satisfyingly into place, the film runs out of gas well before its overly indulgent 132 minute running time.
Lionsgate releases "The Housemaid" in theaters on 12/19/25.
