The Housemaid Review: A Domestic Thriller With Real Bite
The Housemaid takes a familiar domestic-thriller setup and runs it through a high-gloss blender until it turns frothy, sharp, and even a little unhinged.
Directed by Paul Feig and adapted from Freida McFadden’s 2022 novel, the film follows Millie, a young woman trying to start over who accepts a live-in job with the wealthy Winchesters, only to find that the house’s version of “perfect” comes with a catch.
Throughout the film, Sydney Sweeney gives Millie a grounded, watchful edge, but it’s Amanda Seyfried who keeps shifting the temperature, playing Nina with the kind of controlled unpredictability that makes every scene feel like it could tilt into confession or combustion. And even with its eccentric quirks, the result is a twist-forward crowd thriller that understands the pleasure of going big, and the discipline of waiting until it counts.
Amanda Seyfried’s Versatile performance
Seyfried has been on a long run of sharp, high-wire work, and The Housemaid reportedly gives her another chance to weaponize precision. Nina Winchester is the kind of role that can collapse into a single-note “unhinged rich lady” act if the performer reaches for volume too early. The fun here is that Seyfried plays closer to misdirection. The character’s volatility reads less like random mood swings and more like a deliberate ambiguity, obscuring what matters until the film decides it is time to unleash.
The most satisfying showcase is the film’s structural pivot. More than halfway in, after the story settles into a familiar feverish genre setup, the point of view shifts and Nina becomes the engine of the narrative rather than the obstacle inside it. That’s where Seyfried’s versatility really pays off, because the role changes shape without losing specificity. In a twist-forward thriller, the job isn’t just about reacting well on camera—the performance has to make the pivot feel earned. Seyfried certainly does, and she sells the turn without ever overplaying it.
Soap, chaos, and the rare gift of restraint
Feig’s involvement is part of the movie’s whole dare. He is associated with comedy, though The Housemaid is a return to his A Simple Favor lane with darker detailing, meaning glossy surfaces, nasty undercurrents, and a willingness to let the material get a little heightened.
What makes that tone go even harder is calibration. Soapy thrillers live or die on timing. Go too restrained, and the plot mechanics show. Go too big too soon, and you burn suspense for a cheap jolt. However, The Housemaid actually understands that rhythm. It can sit in discomfort, then snap into operatic behavior when the story needs a gear change. That attentive narrative sensibility is also why many are willing to come back for more.
A third act that spends its momentum wisely
Reveal-driven thrillers often stumble in the third act for a simple reason. Once the movie shows you what it’s been building toward, it still has to deliver a clean payoff. Too many films hit the twist, unload a stack of explanations, and coast to the credits.
The Housemaid avoids that trap by treating its switch as a real pivot, not a drawn-out reveal. Even if you can feel the story angling toward certain turns, the film keeps its grip by leaning into momentum instead of exposition, pushing the final stretch forward with real urgency. Sydney Sweeney benefits, too. The later arc specifically lets her sharpen Millie’s choices and shift her energy in a way that makes the character feel active rather than reactive, and the story ends up using its full ensemble instead of letting the reveal do all the work.
Score: 7/10
The Housemaid understands the genre’s campy pleasures and keeps them mostly under control, pairing glossy menace and clever reversals with performances that make the big swings feel earned.
