The time period “responsible pleasure” is thrown round loosely nowadays, used to explain bingeing “bad-for-you” actuality tv as usually as it’s a candy deal with. Through the years, although, it is develop into more and more clear that “responsible pleasure” has develop into a coded and catch-all time period used to explain one thing that has a largely feminine fanbase, implying males’s pursuits are one thing to be taken extra critically. Lately, many have bucked towards this designation and rightfully so.
Nevertheless it’s necessary to notice that, regardless of the place you fall, The Housemaid just isn’t meant to be taken critically. It dabbles in weighty themes that, in a much less pulpy story, would take heart stage. However right here, these themes take a backseat to a genuinely deranged adaptation of a Gone Lady-lite novel by Freida McFadden that feels prefer it was written to be made into a movie. The unique guide, launched in 2022, has spawned two sequels and a brief story, all centered round Millie (performed by Sydney Sweeney within the movie), whose violent origin story leads her into the house of Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar).
The Housemaid Is The Most Enjoyable You will Have At The Films This 12 months
Millie is dealing with a little bit of an issue when The Housemaid opens — her rap sheet makes it troublesome to discover a job, a stipulation in her parole situations that guarantee if she would not have a gradual revenue, she’ll return to jail to complete out the final 5 years of her sentence. This unwittingly brings her into the orbit of the Winchesters. Nina is insistent that they need assistance, although initially it is unclear why. When Millie will get the job, although, Nina makes her life a residing hell, unraveling an online of sinister secrets and techniques that can change the course of all three of their lives.
To spoil any of the twists right here can be egregious as a result of they’re half the enjoyable. It would not actually matter that The Housemaid is yet one more riff on the twisty airport novel popularized by Gillian Flynn’s seminal Gone Lady and David Fincher’s subsequent adaptation. Structurally, there are fairly a number of similarities between the 2. However with dedicated performances and a agency grasp of the fabric, director Paul Feig and his solid craft a thriller that stands by itself.
Feig is aware of his approach round a comedy, having directed two of the twenty first century’s all-time greats in Bridesmaids and Spy, however, like his different 2025 movie A Easy Favor, he leans extra into thriller right here, to a lot better outcomes than that sequel’s misfire. He shoots scenes like a horror film, framing Seyfried’s Nina as an eerie presence as her psychological state deteriorates. She would not hang-out a lot as she terrorizes, Millie changing into the recipient of her ire, from an deliberately trashed kitchen to fixed misinformation framed as miscommunication.
Seyfried — who additionally stars on this month’s The Testomony of Ann Lee because the titular founding father of the Shaker spiritual sect — is totally unhinged right here and having a good time doing it. Although she finds herself with a weaker sparring associate in Sweeney, it would not dilute the sheer manic power she brings to the movie. And Sweeney, to her credit score, has her moments, too. Although she usually feels misplaced within the materials, the divisive star finds her rhythm in The Housemaid‘s darker moments, letting a dry humor peek by means of that hints at her powers as a star.
In the proper function, Sweeney could be phenomenal. Her flip as Actuality Winner in HBO’s Actuality proved that, as did her efficiency on this 12 months’s Christy, which, for all its flaws, remains to be anchored by her titanic flip. Towards Seyfried, although, there’s a sense that Sweeney is outmatched, not less than till she will get the possibility to lean into the crazed power of The Housemaid‘s third act.
Sklenar is probably essentially the most wood of all, if solely as a result of the fabric is not meant to serve him. He is already proved to be a magnetic display presence in 1923 and Drop, however right here, he performs second-fiddle to Nina and Millie’s thoughts video games whereas hanging out within the background, white tank tops accentuating his physique.
But, The Housemaid‘s transgressions are of little or no concern right here. Breakneck pacing and a tightly plotted (if just a little convoluted) story make up for any kind of flaws that may very well be discovered within the movie. It is best not to think about these anyway whereas watching The Housemaid exactly as a result of its flaws are what make it so enjoyable.
Individuals will definitely name The Housemaid a responsible pleasure. It was virtually designed that approach. However there must be no guilt within the enjoyment of this bonkers journey. Even because it veers into darker thematic territory, Feig’s gentle contact and Seyfried’s dedicated efficiency add an air of deranged enjoyment that make The Housemaid some of the enjoyable films of 2025.
- Launch Date
-
December 19, 2025
- Director
-
Paul Feig
- Writers
-
Rebecca Sonnenshine, Freida McFadden
- Producers
-
Todd Lieberman