Name: The Housemaid
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Released: 2026-01-02
Rating: 6.7
Cast: Brandon Sklenar, Sydney Sweeney, Michele Morrone, Amanda Seyfried

 It stars Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway, a young woman with a troubled past who becomes a live-in housemaid for a wealthy family, however, their seemingly perfect life unravels when she discovers their household hides dark secrets beneath the surface.

The Housemaid

Times of India

India Today

Rediff

The ‘woman in the attic’ is a gothic literature trope that gets a modern update in the pulpy thriller. An overqualified, attractive woman working as a housemaid is assigned a bedroom upstairs, with a window that doesn’t open and a deadbolt with no key. This is preceded by her desperation to land the job and the intrusive friendliness of her employer, hinting that something’s off. The unease escalates quickly. On just the second day of Millie’s employment, Nina flies into a rage, accusing her of throwing away important notes meant for a parent-teacher meeting speech. What follows is a pattern of erratic, cruel behaviour as Nina begins tormenting Millie, while Andrew steps in as the charming saviour, offering kindness and reassurance like a knight in shining armour. Add to the mix a mysterious and creepy garden worker, Enzo (Michele Morrone), dialling up the suspense.
Director Paul Feig builds up the tension in the first half, which remains largely engaging thanks to the unpredictability of Nina’s behaviour. Her instability is reinforced not just through her actions but the backstories of suburban housewives' gossip — rumours of overdosing and an alleged attempt to drown her daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle), as a baby.
Midway through, the film loses some momentum and becomes uneventful until the central plot twist arrives. The twist in itself isn’t groundbreaking, but it is woven into a tight narrative. The film manages to retain its sense of suspense as earlier oddities add up. As the mystery unfolds, the viewer witnesses moments of brutality and gore—slashed skin, hair violently pulled from the scalp, and so on.
The movie has its ups and downs, but the performances are consistently good. Sydney Sweeney shines as the housemaid, handling her turn as a hapless woman at first but bold later. However, it’s Amanda Seyfried who delivers the most striking performance. She gets the psychotic, rich boss part perfectly and terrifies in each scene. Brandon Sklenar as the gentle, rich husband who unconditionally loves his wife, and later is also powerful.
The Housemaid may be a pulpy and sometimes predictable outing, but the gloss, intrigue, and tension make it a worthwhile watch.

There is a long cinematic tradition of stories set inside beautiful homes that feel anything but safe. From polished suburban thrillers to so-called “domestic noirs”, these films have taught us to mistrust manicured lawns, quiet kitchens and women who smile a little too carefully.

We know the grammar by now: wealth as a mask, marriage as a performance, the home as a battleground. And yet, every once in a while, a film arrives that understands this language so well that it begins to play with it rather than simply repeat it.
The film introduces us to Millie Calloway, played by Sydney Sweeney – a woman recently released from prison, on parole, and trained by circumstance to observe before she reacts. She needs the job more than she admits, and she knows it. When she interviews for a live-in maid position at a grand Long Island mansion, she is already bracing for rejection. She even tells us that Nina Winchester, played by Amanda Seyfried, the wealthy woman across the table, will see through her lies and never call her back.
The first real crack comes not through drama, but through deception so small it almost feels irrelevant. Millie steps out of the interview, removes her glasses and says, simply, “I don’t wear glasses.” Nina does call her back. Millie accepts the offer – live-in, discreet, unquestioning – fully aware that stability often comes with unspoken costs. Like many Hindi film protagonists who enter grand houses hoping for a new beginning, Millie knows opportunity and danger often arrive together.

What sets The Housemaid apart is its refusal to rush. Feig understands that unease works best when it settles in slowly. Before the film introduces open conflict, it establishes atmosphere. Before it asks the audience to choose sides, it unsettles the idea of trust itself.

The house at the centre of the story is not immediately threatening; it is immaculate, controlled, almost aggressively perfect. Much like the wealthy homes in films such as Monica, O My Darling or Kahaani’s quieter interiors, it is the calm that begins to feel oppressive.

Amanda Seyfried’s Nina is the film’s most unpredictable presence. Introduced as polished and gracious, she soon reveals sharp fractures beneath the surface. Her moods shift without warning, her generosity turns controlling, and her authority over Millie is exercised through confusion rather than command. Seyfried leans fully into this volatility, refusing to make Nina likeable or easily readable. It recalls the unsettling unpredictability of characters of which you are never sure which version will appear next.
One early morning, Millie cleans a chaotic kitchen only to be accused of throwing away important notes for Nina’s speech. What follows is not just a tantrum, but a reminder of who holds power. The threat here is rarely physical; it lies in gaslighting, emotional pressure and the slow breakdown of certainty.

Sweeney’s performance is built on restraint. Millie reveals herself slowly, often through silence. She watches, absorbs, and adapts. Her past surfaces in fragments, enough to explain her urgency, never enough to define her. She balances vulnerability with calculation, ensuring Millie is never reduced to a helpless figure.

Brandon Sklenar plays Andrew Winchester, Nina’s husband, as a calmer presence – typically charming, attentive, and carefully neutral. The film keeps him deliberately ambiguous, allowing his interactions with Millie to carry a soft but unsettling tension. Elizabeth Perkins, as Nina’s sharp-tongued mother-in-law, brings dry humour and discomfort in equal measure, much like the observant elders who quietly expose family cracks in many Indian dramas. Michele Morrrone's character in The Housemaid feels like the unnecessary detail you never wanted in the first place.


Rebecca Sonnenshine’s screenplay thrives on misdirection. Just when the audience begins to settle into familiar expectations, the film shifts its footing. Perspectives blur, loyalties feel temporary, and power keeps changing hands. The writing avoids clear heroes and villains, choosing instead to explore how easily control slips when people underestimate one another.

Feig’s pacing favours momentum, even if the film occasionally stretches believability. The Housemaid is less interested in realism than emotional truth, and it commits fully to that choice. What ultimately distinguishes the film is its understanding of performance, not as drama, but as survival. Everyone here is pretending, adjusting, hiding. The house becomes a stage, and its inhabitants players in a psychological drama where roles keep shifting.

The Housemaid does not apologise for its excesses, nor does it chase subtlety for its own sake. It is a confident, stylish thriller anchored by strong performances and a director clearly enjoying the darker edges of his material.


Early on in The Housemaid, we meet Sydney Sweeney's Millie as she interviews for a live-in maid position at the Winchesters' luxurious residence.

From the moment she walks in, you can tell something isn't quite right about the family she hopes to work for.

The interview is assessed by Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried), a seemingly polished housewife who clearly has something going on about her.

But it's not just Nina. Something is off about Millie as well.

She is desperate for the job, and it soon becomes clear that she has forged documents and lied on her resume to secure it.
Millie is hired and she moves into the Winchester home, which also includes Nina's suave, handsome husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) and their young daughter.

Andrew positions himself as this perfect gentleman with charming smiles and unusually kind nature.

Millie can't help but feel drawn to him, which sets the tension between the characters.

 
The film wastes no time in establishing the eerie tone.

There is one nicely deranged moment in the beginning where Nina casually jokes, with a smile, 'Oh my God! What kind of monsters are we?'

This seemingly harmless line foreshadows much darker turns in the narrative, one character at a time.

The first half unfolds very much like Paul Feig's earlier directorial A Simple Favour, a fun and fashionable thriller starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively.
Here, he draws the story from Freida McFadden's 2022 psychological thriller novel and turns the material into an intense, engaging thriller. If you are unfamiliar with the book, as I was, the twists are very satisfying to watch.

The narrative initially unfolds through Millie's perspective before shifting to Amanda's Nina, a change that sheds light on what's really going on beneath the surface.

This structural shift is similar to Gone Girl, where changing points of view deepen the twists and add new layers upon the characters.

Yes, a few moments verge on the silly and require a healthy suspension of disbelief, but this is where Director Feig leans into deadpan humour he earlier showcased in films like Bridesmaids and Spy.

This light touch of comedy makes most of these scenes land, aided significantly by killer performances from both Sydney and Amanda, but especially Amanda, who is utterly captivating in her deliciously unhinged turn as Nina.

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that there is far more to these people than meets the eye.

What might initially seem like a straightforward thriller gradually reveals itself as a surprisingly layered, character-driven drama that ultimately bares itself as a refreshingly unique feminist tale.

The film takes a bit too long to say what it wants to say, and even lags slightly in the process.

But with narrative twists this wild, it would have been easy for this film to go off the rails.

Still, The Housemaid stays the ground and makes up for a few hiccups with a series of sharply staged shocks, resulting in a fun and satisfying thriller.



The Housemaid (2025) Official Trailer 2 - Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar

The Housemaid Trailer 2025 – Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar

Brandon Sklenar

Sydney Bernice Sweeney is an American actress. She first gained attention for appearing in the television series Everything Sucks!, The Handmaid's Tale, and Sharp Objects. In 2019, she was featured in Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

Sydney Sweeney

Michele Morrone is an Italian actor, model, singer, and fashion designer appearing in both Italian and Polish films. He gained international recognition after portraying the role of Massimo Torricelli in the 2020 erotic romantic drama 365 Days and its sequels, 365 Days: This Day and The Next 365 Days in 2022. 

Michele Morrone

Amanda Seyfried is an American model, singer and actress who has been named as one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in the World. She made her movie debut in 2004 with the teen comedy Mean Girls. Her performance in films like Jennifer’s Body, Dear John, Letters to Juliet and Mamma Mia! has earned her several awards and nominations. Seyfried is also trained in classical opera for two years and has studied under a Broadway voice coach for almost five years.

The Housemaid(2026)