The Housemaid – Movie Review
Based on the best-selling novel from Freida McFadden, The Housemaid is what you get when you take the most insane plot from an episode of Desperate Housewives, add a sprinkle of Gone Girl energy into it, and let filmmakers Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, A Simple Favour) run absolutely wild with the premise. It may not be a recipe that leads to a masterpiece of filmmaking, but if you lean into the campy chaos, there is a lot of fun to be had.
The story starts with Millie (Sydney Sweeney), a young woman with a troubled past who takes the job of a live-in housemaid for the incredibly wealthy Winchester family. Despite Millie’s first encounter with Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) being friendly and cordial, Nina’s erratic behaviour and sinister attitude towards Millie begins to unravel the dark secrets that live within the Winchester home.
From its opening minutes, The Housemaid dedicatedly leans into its soap-opera sentiments, taking the absolute mickey out of the elite New York lifestyle of the Stepford Wives-esque atmosphere that haunts the setting of the Winchester house. Paul Feig, who has played around in this style of genre and tone before in the A Simple Favour films, comfortably assimilates his directing style into the world of The Housemaid – a director perfectly matched with the source material. As the film goes on, and the story unravels with twists, turns, and reveals about all of the characters involved, Feig’s commitment to the insanity makes for one hell of a movie watching experience, taking his filmmaking style into far darker and more violent territories than we’ve seen him go before.
But, when it comes to true commitment to the insanity, it is Amanda Seyfried who takes the cake, giving one unhinged, energetic, and unsettling performance that feels as unpredictable as it is thoroughly entertaining. There is a pure unashamed nature to how frantic Seyfried portrays the erratic nature of Nina, which really carries the film, both in tone and enjoyment. Even in the occasional moments, especially as the film begins to pivot into the final act by setting up some emotional stakes, Seyfried manages to convey a sincerity that makes Nina feel grounded in the chaos, without actually losing the chaos to the sincerity.
Another highlight of the film is Brandon Sklenar (It Ends With Us) who plays Nina’s husband, and the heir of the Winchester family fortune, who physically embodies the brooding nature of Andrew with his deep, controlling voice and imposing physical presence (namely his towering height and bulging biceps). It’s impossible not to be swept up by his masculine charm, something that Sweeney’s Millie also falls far, leading to a lot of the second act’s tensions, and Sklenar manages to both be this presence authentically, but with the same campy energy that the film thrives on. He also gets to really push the envelope in the third act of the film, but the less known about that, the better.
Sydney Sweeney is completely fine as Millie. There’s never a point in the film’s first 90-or-so minutes where it feels like she does anything different to what we’ve seen of her in Euphoria or Anyone But You, despite Millie feeling like one of the more interesting characters she’s played. Like Sklenar, the film’s third act gives Sweeney a little bit more to do, and she does hold her own, but there is an energy that the rest of the cast are bringing to the film that she just misses out on. The swooning chemistry she shares with Sklenar is undoubtedly sexually electric, but that’s really as far as the chemistry goes, which in fairness, is serviceable enough for this story.
From a narrative perspective, The Housemaid is a wildly chaotic mess at points. There doesn’t ever feel like there is consistency to the flow of the story. Rather, each scene feels like it is written and presented for the sole purpose of revealing the next crazy element that adds another level of insanity to the overall story. It can definitely feel clunky and jumbled at times, but the rising nature of the tension, the mystery of the characters, and the wildly fun tone negates that to make a movie experience that is far more enjoyable than it should be, despite not actually being a “good movie”.
Everyone will be talking about how crazy the third act gets, and it’s true. There is a small point as some big reveals come out where the film takes on a slightly more serious tone, but Feig manages to steer the ship well through those moments, using them to really set up the emotional stakes within the absurdity, before returning to a final 25 minutes that goes to some extreme (and violent) places that still hold on to the darkly comedic feeling.
The Housemaid is campy, pulpy, pure schlock-filled entertainment. It may not be a well constructed narrative, but Paul Feig, Amanda Seyfried, and Brendan Sklenar’s dedication to the melodrama, dark comedy, and frantic energy makes for a movie watching experience that’s best done with a crowd of like minded audience members who aren’t afraid to go on one crazy roller coaster ride.
The Housemaid is in Australian cinemas December 26
