Dallas Film Now.

Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried star, with Brandon Sklenar, in Paul Feig’s gloriously cheesy thriller. 

Since A Simple Favor (2018), director Paul Feig’s career has swayed between ‘not so good’ to completely unappetizing. The Housemaid, however, reminds that the director’s talents truly shine when he has good material to elevate to an uproarious level. 

To be sure, The Housemaid is not a comedy. Yet Feig’s touch is evident in how he handles sequences that heat up from a slow simmer to a full boil, allowing the actors to give master classes in modulating their performances. 

Sydney Sweeney stars as Millie, a demure young woman interviewing for a live-in position as a housemaid in a palatial home. Bubbly and sweet, Nina (Amanda Seyfried) is overtly friendly as she tours Millie through her huge, immaculate house. 

Leaving the interview, Millie is convinced that she blew it, that Nina will reject her outright once she checks her references. Returning to her unhoused existence, Millie is desperate, yet determined. Then her phone rings. 

Nina’s job offer feels like a gift from above, and Millie happily accepts and begins work immediately. All is well until the next morning. 

From there, we’re off on a rollercoaster of emotions that it would not be fair to spoil, except to note that Millie meets Nina’s husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) and young Cecilia (Indiana Elle), as well as groundskeeper Enzo (Michele Marrone), who will all figure into the narrative twists and turns that follow. 

Adapting a popular novel by Freida McFadden, first published in 2022, Rebecca Sonnenshine’s screenplay reflects her own past experience as a writer for television, as well as supernatural thrillers, which fuses well with McFadden’s thriller narrative. Frequent Feig collaborator John Schwartzman once again serves as director of photography, and captures the beauty, elegance, and inherent mystery of the lavish home that is the film’s principal location. 

For good reason (which will be revealed later), Sydney Sweeney’s Millie is initially entirely restrained. She appears timid and withdrawn, signaling her inner turmoil almost entirely through subtle changes in her facial expressions, and withholds her emotions until she can give free rein to them in private. Amanda Seyfried’s Nina more immediately displays a wider range of emotions, from cheerful, kind and loving, to something much darker and wildly fierce. 

Because of the timing of this release, just after Sweeney’s star turn as a boxer in Christy and just before Seyfried’s star turn in The Testament of Ann Lee, their performances in The Housemaid serve as stunning reminders of their remarkable individual ability to portray complex, multi-layered characters who always fight back and always vigorously reach out in pursuit of something more and better in their lives. Having them together in The Housemaid is a combustible mix. 

 Brandon Sklenar’s Andrew is handsome and charming. From first appearances, he would appear to be no match for either Sweeney or Seyfried. Yet Skelnar is entirely convincing in a role that is far more complex than initially suggested. 

Paul Feig triumphs once again in The Housemaid with a seasonal treat that is steamy, spicy good fun. 

The film opens Friday, December 19, throughout the DFW Metroplex, via Lionsgate. Visit the official site for locations, showtimes, and tickets.