‘The Housemaid’ Review: Sweeney Stumbles, Seyfried Soars in Semi-Camp Romp

BY NATE DAY

 

‘The Housemaid,’ directed by Paul Feig, is a breath of fresh air at the movies—if only because movies like it don’t seem to exist much anymore.

A twisty psychological romp starring Sydney Sweeney as the titular housemaid and Amanda Seyfried as her wealthy employer, the film is far from perfect. Still, it’s crafted well enough to deliver a genuinely fun night at the theater—which is exactly where it should be seen.

Psychological thrillers without guns, car chases, or superheroes are increasingly rare, and ‘The Housemaid’ scratches that itch with a diabolical sensibility reminiscent of ‘Basic Instinct’ and ‘Gone Girl.’ Comparisons to those films are inevitable, though whether it ultimately holds up against them feels beside the point.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

This movie plays more like a traditional star-driven blockbuster: hot people making bad decisions, funny (and occasionally unhinged) one-liners, and a glossy setting designed to make audiences drool. It’s pulpy, knowingly ridiculous, and unapologetically crowd-pleasing.

Based on Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel, ‘The Housemaid’ has been a known quantity for years, and this adaptation feels engineered to extend that success. Its themes—righteousness, power, and a distinctly modern brand of girlboss revenge—are broad but accessible, and the film rarely forgets its audience.

The elephant in the room is Sydney Sweeney. After a rocky year marked by controversy and commercial misfires, ‘The Housemaid’ has the potential to reassert her box-office viability—but she’s also the film’s weakest link.

Her performance in the first half is broad, oddly flat, and undermined by a grating voiceover narration. Compounding the issue is her public persona: Sweeney feels miscast as Millie, a formerly incarcerated woman living out of her car and scraping by for survival. It’s a tough sell when the actor still reads as the face of a recent (and infamous) denim campaign.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

To her credit, Sweeney improves significantly in the film’s back half, once the story accelerates and allows her to lean into humor and rage. Whether that shift reflects growth in the performance or simple relief at the improved pacing is up for debate—but the movie is better for it.

Amanda Seyfried, meanwhile, reminds us exactly why she’s a bona fide movie star. As Nina, a brittle, paranoid housewife whose grip on reality is perpetually in question, Seyfried commands every frame she’s in. Her voiceover—measured, sly, and unsettling—highlights just how much that device depends on control and intention.

Seyfried is clearly having fun, grounding the film’s bonkers script in something human and emotionally legible. Paired with her recent turn in ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ this marks one of the year’s more intriguing examples of an actor balancing “one for them” with “one for me.”

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

‘The Housemaid’ is flawed: it runs too long, particularly upfront, and the script often prioritizes shock over coherence. Still, those shortcomings are offset by real thrills and a campiness that studios rarely allow onto the big screen anymore.

In line with Feig’s ‘A Simple Favor’ (and its straight-to-streaming sequel), ‘The Housemaid’ is best enjoyed in a packed theater—preferably near an audience that groans at the cringy flirting, cheers at the twisted empowerment fantasy, and audibly reacts to every shirtless appearance by Brandon Sklenar. As far as holiday-season multiplex offerings go, there are far worse ways to spend two hours.