The Housemaid

Escapism At Its Purest 

If every mainstream film in cinemas were as well-crafted and executed as The Housemaid, cinemas wouldn’t be facing the grave threat currently being faced. The Housemaid has everything, and I truly mean everything. “DELICIOUS” is the word for it. It’s exciting, juicy, great fun, and escapism at its purest. The film manages to achieve all of this while maintaining its integrity and effortless ability to be silly but never ridiculous. Audiences come away with crucial themes in their minds and the desire to have important conversations. I can’t stress enough how important it is for studios and audiences to keep in mind that it IS possible for blockbuster entertainment features to have the same level of complexity as indies do and still be entertaining. 

Movies about the hidden cracks in the perfectly seeming walls of suburbia have always been intriguing to audiences. Earlier this summer, audiences were thrown into shocking waters with Weapons, which was one of last year's highest-grossing films. Something I deeply appreciated about both films is that, usually in films, once “The Big Reveal” presents itself, it's time to wrap up the story quickly rather than take it several steps further and explore the aftermath, and both Weapons and The Housemaid avoid this very common mistake. They take audiences through a wild ride and a compelling journey of the very real human dangers that lurk beneath our everyday life. 

The Housemaid opens with Sydney Sweeney’s “Millie” arriving at the luxury Long Island mansion of Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried). Millie has just been released on parole after serving ten years in prison for a crime, which serves as important information for problems that will arise later on. Millie becomes a live-in housemaid, taking residence in a tiny attic, a room that will come to represent something massive for them both. Nina’s greatly adored husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and exasperated daughter, Cece (Indiana Elle), don’t know about Millie until they come home to find her working. Nina laughs off the awkward moment and raves about how great the house looks. The next morning, Nina’s behavior changes completely. She smashes dishes and accuses Millie of throwing away her notes for a PTA speech. Millie soon gathers that Nina spent some time in a mental hospital and is mocked and ridiculed by the gossip-obsessed housewives who applaud “Hot Saint Andrew” for putting up with her. Andrew’s domineering mother, Evelyn (Elizabeth Perkins), turns up her nose at Nina, giving Millie some insight into Nina’s “failures” in her assigned role in the family. Even Enzo (Michele Morrone), the glaring groundskeeper, wants Millie to leave. Of course, this is not an option. Millie’s employment is a condition of her parole, and she’s determined to wait out the bad situation until she’s saved enough to find something better. 

Unfortunately for her, Nina has no intention of making it easy and puts on grand airs, asking Millie to perform unreasonable tasks laced with deception, then lashes out and denies ever asking. Things eventually come to a shocking and disturbing turn of events when Nina’s behavior becomes so extreme that she’s banished from her own house. Millie stares at the tiny dolls in Cece’s doll house that is a replica of the home. Clues in the doll’s body language and the wording Cece uses as she plays eventually make sense when all is revealed, but by that point, it’s too late to run: To fight back is the only option. 

Seyfried has done many dramas; it’s easy to forget what an excellent comedic actor she is. Nina is a constantly changing chameleon of emotions, and Seyfried hilariously entertains her explosive complexities without mocking her mental state. Sweeney is equally excellent in a role that couldn’t be easy to pull off. Millie is a damsel in distress,s but she does not need rescuing and proves to be a master at fighting her own battles. 

There’s an economic, quietly political, and class-cultural substructure that goes into all of the characters' decision-making, which is quite unusual for such a mainstream movie. Every move, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is a powerplay. Even Cece’s sullenness and sourpuss demeanor indicate a kind of survival that proves to be learned behavior. 

The Winchester home is built like a ship in a bottle. Looks perfect inside and out, but underneath the surface lies something else entirely. The Housemaid thrives and dominates on the importance of shadowing everyday life onscreen to avoid making the extreme look too far from reality. Because in all honesty… nothing that happens in The Housemaid is really that unlikely or unrealistic. Sweeney and Seyfried just do such a commendable job of making it all look so effortless and inviting into a… hornet's nest!

The Housemaid (2025) (no date) Oc.mymovies.dk. Available at: https://oc.mymovies.dk/Movie/53dd882b-5959-465d-9339-3417afb284ec (Accessed: 17 January 2026).