A struggling woman is happy to start over as a housemaid for an affluent, elite couple.

Paul Feig’s latest movie, ‘The Housemaid’, is an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Freida McFadden which was a commercial success in 2022. It stars Sydney Sweeney as the titular housemaid Millie, who takes on the live-in housekeeper’s job for a wealthy family and soon realises all may not be quite what it seems. Amanda Seyfried co-leads as Nina Winchester, one half of the wealthy couple, alongside Brandon Sklenar as her husband Andrew, and this psychological thriller hinges on the dynamic between these three individuals.

We learn early on that Millie is out on parole and that Nina has a history of mental illness, creating a scenario where Millie has to hold her new job down regardless of how Nina treats her, which at times is contradictory and even mean. There is a clearly sexually charged atmosphere in the house once Millie starts working there between her and Andrew, and to Feig’s credit, he doesn’t even attempt to pretend this isn’t going to go in an inevitable direction. The plotting is full of twists and turns, many of which you can see coming a mile off, but that doesn’t detract from what is at heart a psychological thriller that sets out to entertain and entertain it does.

The performances are more than solid with Amanda Seyfried in particular excellent and unsettling as the clearly troubled Nina, and I liked that Feig was willing to lean into the absurdities and campness of the premise to good effect. ‘The Housemaid’ is undoubtedly deeply silly and full of implausible plot developments, but it is first and foremost great fun and as a throwback to the kind of thrillers that were popular in the 80s and 90s, this is pretty good.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Paul Feig

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone and Elizabeth Perkins

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt27543632/