Freida McFadden’s hit novel “The Housemaid” is the latest “BookTok” phenomenon to earn itself a feature film adaptation. Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”, “Spy”, “A Simple Favour”) is the director charged with adapting the best-selling thriller for the big screen, and given his track record of producing entertaining female-led movies, it would seem like a decent match; However while “The Housemaid” teases a camp, fun thriller, it only partially delivers on its promise, and instead largely stays well within the boundaries of your typical erotic thriller.
Sydney Sweeney plays Millie Calloway, an out-of-work young woman with a checkered past who is living in her car and washing in public restrooms. She dons a fake pair of glasses to make her seem more respectable for an interview with Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried), who is on the search for a live-in housemaid. To her surprise, Millie is offered the job, and given the attic room to stay in. The next morning, Nina becomes unhinged and begins tearing through the kitchen to find the PTA notes which she accuses Millie of throwing away. The commotion is only diffused by Brandon Sklenar as Andrew, Nina’s husband, who swoops in to both calm Nina, and reassure Millie that she is welcome in their home.
Later, while Nina is hosting a PTA meeting, Millie hears other parents discuss Nina’s history with mental illness as they praise Andrew as a “hot saint” who stands by his Wife despite her erratic behaviour. Millie’s presence in the house is even made to feel less welcome by the Winchester’s daughter Cecelia (Indiana Elle) who treats Millie with great distance and disregard. Nina even goes so far as to set Millie up for failure by sending her to pick her daughter up from ballet class, only for her to discover that Cecelia has a prearranged play date and didn’t need to be picked up in the first place.
Millie consistently finds herself the victim of abusive and manipulative behaviour, yet with nowhere else to go she is trapped in her attic room with the Winchesters. Despite choosing to employ Millie, Nina seems determined to belittle her housemaid at every opportunity; the only saving grace being Andrew who serves as trespite by cutting Millie some slack and affording a sense of understanding and companionship.
The film settles into this unnerving sense of dread and mystique and slowly the facade of the Winchesters is peeled away. To someone (like myself) who is unfamiliar with the source material, it seems like a fairly formulaic young adult romantic thriller wherein the heroine is being led to a forbidden love. This at least was my concern for the majority of the film. However I found myself pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns of the plot, despite some elements being foreshadowed rather overtly. I was fearing another “It ends with us” but at the last minute it veers into something a little more exciting.
Sklenar also features in that movie and for the most part, he plays the same mysterious good looking man who tempts the main character in this film, however he does get a little more room to play here. Sweeney seems to play Millie fairly safely, as if unsure of the tone of the film herself while Seyfried is allowed more freedom to play a deranged version of her character and seems to be the only one who understood the assignment.
This is where the film lets itself down. Somewhere in there is a thrilling, propulsive, feminist joy ride akin to Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. At times, we’re given a glimpse of something like this when it leans into some of its campness, but it rarely does so. The result is that for a large part, the film feels pretty formulaic and uninspiring. In fact, by only offering brief flashes of its campness or self-awareness, it's as if Feig himself wasn’t fully sure of what approach should be taken.
For what the story is, it also felt a little drawn out. I understand that certain aspects of the story were removed and certain characters had their relevance reduced when compared to their roles in the novel and that is to be expected when making an adaptation. However, rather than ramping up the tension earlier in its runtime, we’re given so many sex scenes that they begin to feel gratuitous.
Overall, The Housemaid does elevate itself slightly above a stereotypical forbidden love movie, largely in part to the satisfying twists and turns including the ending itself which almost repositions the film in another genre entirely. Feig manages to keep the audience on their toes but he does so sporadicly, and consequently you’re able to have a lot of fun with this film, if you’re willing to wait for it.
★★★
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