DVD Corner

The Housemaid Review

“The Housemaid” is a trashy thriller.

Based on the novel by Freida McFadden, “The Housemaid” is a feature film adaptation penned by Rebecca Sonnenshine. The story revolves around a young woman (Millie) who is on parole and is in desperate need of work. She lands a job as a live-in maid for a wealthy family in Long Island. The family consists of an erratic beautiful wife (Nina), a wealthy hunk (Andrew) and their initially standoffish daughter Cece. Millie soon learns that the family is harboring some seriously dark secrets. Even Millie herself has quite the background (which comes into play later). At first it appears as if Nina is unraveling and that she is attempting to sabotage Millie perhaps out of jealousy. Millie does end up developing a connection with the seemingly kind hearted husband Andrew, but it soon becomes apparent that nothing is as it seems and that Millie has found herself trapped in quite a hellish predicament. 

Director Paul Feig (best known for “Bridesmaids” and “A Simple Favor”) has never been afraid to dabble in various genres from mainstream comedy films to mysteries. With 2025’s “The Housemaid,” he explores new genres with this erotic psychological thriller that tosses in dark humor. For Feig, he managed to score a big box office win with this thriller, but in terms of its actual quality, it’s a supremely trashy thriller in the vein of a “Gone Girl” or “Wild Things” (albeit much less interesting than both of these films).

“The Housemaid” attempts to be a dark and thoughtful thriller about abuse, sexism, female empowerment, and domestic violence, but it’s let down by its campyness, “Saw” like violence, and flimsy plotting. To say it’s a tonal mess is an understatement. It feels like multiple films are fighting to merge together. The characters scarcely seem like real people and seem to exist merely to set-up the wild twists to come. It all feels like an exploitative thriller that wants to shock audiences in an entertaining fashion. Some viewers may eat it up while others like myself will find themselves unfulfilled. 

Cast wise, the film boasts 3 main players with Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and rising star Brandon Sklenar. Sweeney is everywhere these days and has done some impressive work to be sure (see “Reality” and “Christy”). In this though, she doesn’t quite seem comfortable and is a bit stiff at times. Seyfried definitely steals the show. She goes all out with an often unhinged performance. Sklenar (best known for “1923” and “The Drop”) does a credible job as Andrew. He gets to show some real depth as an actor.

“The Housemaid” is now available digitally and will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K March 17th, 2026.

March 11, 2026 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Movie Review | Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Freida McFadden, Paul Feig, Sydney Sweeney, The Housemaid Review, thriller