'The Housemaid' Review
- Connor Petrey
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Release Date: 12/19/25 [Cinemas]
Genre: Drama. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: Lionsgate.
The Verdict: A Must-See
Paul Feig has a hot and cold streak that has followed his career ever since his breakout with Bridesmaids, with numerous success stories to follow along with some massive critical failures. In just this year alone, the director had directed two feature films: Another Simple Favor and now seven months later The Housemaid. Let’s just say, one of these titles could’ve been excavated from the release schedule all together.
And that pointed insult is not directed at The Housemaid. Unfamiliar with the bestselling novel it is based on, this is a film that was an absolute surprise and one I personally went remarkably dry on, beyond some complaints on social media about a bit of nudity in the film. As someone that watches an obnoxious amount of films a year, things can become more predictable and tiresome, yet The Housemaid never was.
The film features three lead performers: Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester, Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway, and Brandon Sklenar as Andrew Winchester. Accompanied by a few notable such as the Winchester daughter Cece played by Indiana Elle and Elizabeth Perkins as the Winchester grandmother promptly named Mrs. Winchester.
All delivering terrific performances that truly reverted the psychological mystery at hand and kept the audience on their toes, as even the most obvious of expectations can be turned directly on their head. Truth be told, it’s purposefully campy, purposefully shocking and most of all purposefully fun. While you might be on the edge of your seat at one particular moment, the film isn’t afraid to manipulate and alter what you believe is reality for an unreal finale that matches the styling of Feig’s original A Simple Favor.
When Feig chooses a project where he is capable of being within his element and simultaneously dial back his sometimes over-the-top nature, he can absolutely nail the direction and this film is certainly one of those cases. Sweeney, Seyfried and Sklenar all work off one another in an extraordinary way, seemingly so unprovoked at times from the reactions that it almost resembles an improvisation.
People love to point fingers at Sweeney being the problem but if you look at films like Christy from a performance perspective she had what it takes and while her performance here is certainly more reliant on what’s going on behind her eyes than what’s being spoken, you can tell there’s a lot of pain held back. Seyfried’s Nina is more of an open book with ripped pages and blacked out sentences, never quite sure what the next line is or what action she’ll take next and that’s very much on purpose. Not to mention Sklenar’s Andre being the absolute talk of the town and everyone’s admiration for what the ideal man should be.
Things change on a dime in this feature and the performances make it happen seamlessly. Feig executes his vision from Rebecca Sonnenshine’s screenplay based on Freida McFadden’s source. As someone that went in entirely barebones beyond the aforementioned nudity and the original trailer that frankly didn’t do anything for me, this was a major upset this year and has become one of the greats to conclude 2025 with.
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