The Housemaid is the job chosen by Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney – brilliant in the recent Christy), for which she goes for her job interview while wearing glasses, to pretend she looks learned – as well as hoping she gets it because it’s a live-in position, and the alternative is sleeping in her car, because she’s flat broke.
Based upon on the interview with homeowner Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried – Things Heard And Seen), she doesn’t think she’ll get it, but we know she does, because that’s what’s shown in the trailer, and otherwise… it’d be a very short film.
Everything’s fine on the first day, but on day 2, Nina’s turned into a raging psycho, blaming Millie for her PTA notes going missing – the existence of which are news to her – given that Nina has a very important speech to impart.
Meanwhile, Nina’s architect husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar – Drop, It Ends With Us), is incredibly standoffish to Millie’s presence, and their daughter, Cece, looks like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle, as well as being a spoilt brat, claiming her glass is dirty when it’s perfectly fine, yet still insisting their new wageslave brings her a new one.
Millie’s bedroom door is also has a problem with the lock and keeps jamming, making it feel like she’s been locked in, but on the plus side, as she’s on licence from jail and needs to keep this job, thankfully, Nina’s not noticed her brush with the law when taking her on, but what did she do to end up in chokey?
You can smell a rat that Nina’s off her meds, when she tells Millie to pick up the brat from school, yet on arrival finds other plans have already been arranged, and when a call is made to check the schedule, the boss denies having even made the initial instruction, making our heroine look like a complete arse.
As a minor annoyance for some – yet major for me – everyone walks around the house barefoot at night, yet in outdoor shoes during the day, despite not having mopped the floor inbetween.
Anyhoo, with the welcome addition of Elizabeth Perkins (also in director Paul Feig‘s recent Another Simple Favour) in the role of Andrew’s overbearing mother, and a a creepy gardener who talks in cryptic terms, The Housemaid is VERY twisty-turny in its plotting, but I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting.
And Ms Sweeney even has some brief topless nudity in this film, if you like that sort of thing…
The Housemaid is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.
NOTE: There’s no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 131 minutes
Release date: December 22nd 2025
Studio: Lionsgate Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (X-OCN XT (8.6K))
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Paul Feig
Producers: Paul Feig, Laura Fischer, Todd Lieberman,
Screenplay: Rebecca Sonnenshine
Novel: Freida McFadden
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Cast:
Millie Calloway: Sydney Sweeney
Nina Winchester: Amanda Seyfried
Andrew Winchester: Brandon Sklenar
Enzo: Michele Morrone
Cece Winchester: Indiana Elle
Pam: Sarah Cooper
Patrice: Ellen Tamaki
Mrs. Winchester: Elizabeth Perkins
Jilianne: Megan Ferguson
Suzanne: Amanda Joy Erickson
Amanda: Alaina Surgener
Officer Jenkins: Don DiPetta
Officer Stanley: Lamar B Slaughter
Officer Jessica Connors: Alexandra Seal
Detective Smythe: Brian D Cohen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.