The Housemaid review: Amanda Seyfried shines in the slow burn that gets under your skin
The recently released film, The Housemaid, is a gripping domestic thriller that explores power and deception in a wealthy household. With strong performances from Amanda Seyfried, Brendan Sklenar and Sydney Sweeney and a slow-burning tension, it keeps the audience guessing at every turn.
There’s a long cinematic tradition of stories set inside beautiful homes that feel anything but safe. From sophisticated suburban thrillers to so-called “domestic noir,” these films have taught us to distrust manicured lawns, quiet kitchens, and women who smile too discreetly.
We know the grammar by now: money as mask, marriage as performance, home as battlefield. And yet, every once in a while, a movie comes along that understands this language so well that it starts playing with it rather than repeating it.
Adapted from the 2022 novel by Frieda McFadden, home maid Belongs to that category. Directed by Paul Feig, a filmmaker who has shown an interest in controlled chaos rather than straightforward comedy, the film doesn’t try to reinvent the domestic thriller.
Just like Sriram Raghavan’s 2018 film andhadhun Taking a familiar noir setup and turning it into something playful but unsettling, Feig leans into hyperbole where useful and finds the tension not in shock value but in behavior – the way people speak, pause and look at each other inside carefully curated spaces.
The film introduces us to Milly Calloway, played by Sidney Sweeney – a woman recently released on parole from prison, and trained to observe a situation before reacting. She needs the job more than she cares to admit, and she knows it. When she interviews for a live-in maid position at a lavish Long Island mansion, she’s already bracing for rejection. She also tells us that Nina Winchester, played by Amanda Seyfried, is the rich woman who will see through his lies and never call him back.
The first real crack comes not through drama, but through deception, so small it seems almost irrelevant. Millie walks out of the interview, takes off her glasses and says, “I don’t wear glasses.” Neena calls him back. Millie accepts the offer – live-in, discreet, unquestioning – knowing full well that stability often comes with untold costs. Like many Hindi film heroes who enter lavish homes in the hope of a new beginning, Milly knows that opportunity and danger often come hand in hand.
what sets home maid Apart from this, there is also a refusal to rush. Feig understands that discomfort works best when it hits home slowly. The film sets the tone before the overt conflict is introduced. Even before it asks its audience to choose a side, it destabilizes the very idea of trust.
The house at the center of the story poses no immediate threat; It’s immaculate, controlled, almost aggressively perfect. Like the rich houses in the movies Monica, oh my darling Or StoryIn its serene interiors, it is this stillness that begins to feel oppressive.
Amanda Seyfried’s Nina is the film’s most unexpected presence. Introduced as polished and graceful, she soon reveals intense fractures beneath the surface. His moods change without warning, his generosity turns into control, and his authority over Millie is exercised through confusion rather than command. Seyfried fully leans into this instability, refusing to make Nina likable or easily readable. It’s a reminder of the volatile unpredictability of characters that you’re never sure which version of them will appear next.
One morning, Millie cleans up a messy kitchen and is accused of throwing away important notes from Nina’s speech. What happens next is not just an outburst, but a reminder of who has the power. The danger here is rarely physical; It is rooted in gaslighting, emotional coercion and the slow disintegration of certainty.
Swinney’s performance is based on restraint. Millie reveals herself slowly, often through silence. She observes, assimilates and adapts. His past is revealed in bits and pieces, enough to explain his urgency, but not enough to define him. She balances vulnerability with calculation, ensuring that Millie is never reduced to a helpless individual.
Brandon Sklenar plays Nina’s husband Andrew Winchester, who is a cool presence – typically charming, observant, and carefully neutral. The film keeps him deliberately vague, adding a gentle but disturbing tension to his interactions with Millie. Elizabeth Perkins, as Neena’s fast-talking mother-in-law, brings dry humor and discomfort in equal measure, much like the observant elders who quietly expose family rifts in many Indian dramas. Michelle Morrone’s character in home maid It feels like that unnecessary detail you never wanted in the first place.
Rebecca Sonenshine’s screenplay is based on misdirection. Just when the audience begins to settle into familiar expectations, the film changes course. Perspectives become blurred, loyalties seem fleeting, and power changes hands. The writing avoids clear heroes and villains, instead choosing to explore how easily control can slip when people underestimate each other.
Feig’s pace propels the pace, even as the film occasionally stretches credulity. home maid Less interested in realism than emotional truth, and he is fully committed to that option. What ultimately sets the film apart is its understanding of performance, not as drama, but as existence. Here everyone is pretending, adjusting, hiding. The house becomes a stage, and its inhabitants take part in a psychological drama where the roles keep changing.
home maid Makes no apology for its excesses, nor pursues subtlety for its own sake. This is a confident, stylish thriller, built on strong acting and a director clearly enjoying the darker aspects of his material.
The film was released in Indian theaters on January 1, 2026.
