December 16, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Paul Feig
Culture Representation: Taking place in Great Neck, New York, the dramatic film “The Housemaid” (based on Freida McFadden’s book of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Asian, African Americans and Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: An ex-convict with a dark and secretive past gets a job as a live-in housemaid to an affluent married couple, who have secrets of their own.
Culture Audience: “The Housemaid” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the book on which the movie is based, and pulpy psychological crime thrillers that have twists and turns.
“The Housemaid” is basically an above-average Lifetime movie, except “The Housemaid” has nudity, a bigger budget, and graphic violence. Amanda Seyfried outshines all the other cast members in her performance that’s both complex and campy. The story’s plot twists make “The Housemaid” worth watching for people who are inclined to enjoy psychological thrillers that keep people guessing about who the real villains are.
Directed by Paul Feig and written by Rebecca Sonnenshine, “The Housemaid” is adapted from Freida McFadden’s book of the same name. The movie takes place in Great Neck, New York. “The Housemaid” was actually filmed in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“The Housemaid” begins by showing Millie Calloway (played by Sydney Sweeney), a woman in her mid-20s, driving to a mansion in Great Neck. Millie is the movie’s intermittent narrator. She is going to the home of spouses Nina Winchester (played by Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (played by Brandon Sklenar) because Nina wants to hire a live-in housemaid and is interviewing people for the job at the Winchester home. Nina is friendly and welcoming, while Millie is slightly nervous.
Millie seems to be an ideal candidate for the job. According to Millie’s résumé, she has several years of experience being a housemaid and nanny. Millie is a college graduate, according to her résumé, and Nina thinks Millie is overqualified. Nina asks why Millie would want to be a housemaid if Millie has a college education. Millie response: “I love being a housemaid.”
Nina mentions that she and Andrew have an 11-year-old daughter named Cecelia (played by Indiana Elle), nicknamed Cece, so the housemaid job will include some nanny duties. Millie says she has no problem with that because she likes kids. Nina tells Millie that she’ll be in touch when Nina makes her decision.
As Millie drives away, she says in a voiceover that she doesn’t expect to get the job because everything on Millie’s résumé is a lie. Millie has a secret that she didn’t put on her résumé: She is an ex-convict on parole. Millie is also currently living out of her car. If she doesn’t get a job and find a place to live soon, as a condition for her parole, then Millie will be sent back to prison. The movie eventually reveals why Millie was in prison.
Millie is shocked when Nina calls to offer the live-in housemaid job to Millie. Millie assumes that Nina didn’t do a background check and eagerly accepts the job. Nina asks if Millie can start as soon as possible. Millie says she can move in and start the job that day.
Nina hasn’t told Andrew that she wants the housemaid that she hires to live in the Winchester household. Andrew inherited a technology company from his deceased father, but Nina says that Andrew designed the house that they live in now. When Nina introduces Millie to Andrew, he’s surprised that Millie will be living with them. Nina pretends that she already told Andrew that the housemaid she would be hiring would be a live-in housemaid.
Andrew is polite to Millie, but the same can’t be said of Andrew mother Mrs. Winchester (played by Elizabeth Perkins) and Cece. Mrs. Winchester is a materialistic snob, who makes this comment to Nina when Mrs. Winchester is introduced to casually dressed Millie for the first time: “You let the help dress like that?” Cece is an irritable, spoiled brat, especially to Millie.
Millie’s bedroom is located in a very small area of the attic. The room can barely fit a bed and a small closet. Nina says that this part of the attic used to be a Andrew’s storage room. Millie is just happy to have a job and a place to live, which is why Millie tells Nina that this living space is “perfect.”
The first sign something is very wrong in this household happens the next morning, when Nina is having a raging tantrum because she can’t find the notes that she made for a speech at an upcoming Parent-Teacher Association meeting. During this tantrum, Nina throws objects around in the kitchen and accuses Millie of taking Nina’s notes. Millie is shocked and denies anything to do with the lost notes.
Andrew is able to calm Nina down and suggests that Nina look on her computer for a backup file. Even though Millie really didn’t take the notes and doesn’t even know where Nina kept them, Millie quietly lets Nina blame her. Nina threatens to fire Millie if something like this happens again.
Later, Nina invites three gossipy “friends” who are socialites over to the house for a small luncheon. The friends—Jillianne (played by Megan Ferguson), Suzanne (played by Amanda Joy Erickson) and Amanda (played by Alaina Surgener)— are the type of women who would want to be on a “Real Housewives” show. They also think Andrew is a hunky husband, who’s a “saint” for putting up with Nina’s wild mood swings and erratic actions.
When Nina isn’t in the room, Millie overhears the women gossipping about Nina’s very troubled past: At 8 years old, Nina’s parents died in a fire that Nina was suspected of starting. No one was ever charged with this suspected arson. As an adult, Nina spent six months in a psychiatric facility because Andrew saw Nina trying to drown Cece in a bathtub when Cece was a toddler.
The “queen bee” of Nina’s social group is Patrice (played by Ellen Tamaki), who is very image-conscious about appearing to have a perfect life. Patrice’s daughter and Cece are friends who are in the same ballet class. This ballet class will be the scene of a manipulation scheme that is intended to humiliate someone who lives in the Winchester household.
Meanwhile (and you know this would be part of the story), there’s a growing attraction between Millie and Andrew. And no story like this would be complete without a scowling and mysterious stranger who lurks around and watches people through windows. In this case, it’s the Winchesters’ groundskeeper Enzo (played by Michele Morrone), who knows a lot of secrets.
The more time that Millie spends in the Winchester household, the more uncomfortable she gets with Nina, and the more comfortable Millie gets with Andrew. Nina has a habit of sneaking up on Millie and accusing Millie of snooping where Millie shouldn’t be snooping. (The movie has some questionable editing in these “jump scare” sneak-ups.) One day, when Millie is in a bathroom in the house, she finds a prescription pill in a toilet. This discovery makes Millie think that Nina is secretly disposing of medication that Nina is supposed to be taking.
“The Housemaid” is not a great movie. There are some moments that are so ridiculous or acted in such an over-the-top way, these scenes are unintentionally laughable. But this movie knows exactly what is (a kitschy mystery thriller), and the story is compelling enough for many viewers to want to keep watching. The acting isn’t terrible, but it isn’t outstanding either. And even though the movie is called “The Housemaid,” by the end of the story, Seyfried’s go-for-broke performance and the character of Nina are what viewers will remember the most.
Lionsgate will release “The Housemaid” in U.S. cinemas on December 19, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on February 3, 2026. “The Housemaid” will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on March 17, 2026.