The Housemaid (2025) Film Review: Adaptation of the best-selling erotic thriller is unhinged, delightful trash

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Millie (Sydney Sweeney), a young woman with a troubled past, is relieved when she is given the chance to become a maid for a wealthy family.

However, the seemingly perfect household soon begins to unravel with dark secrets, and nothing is as it really seems to be...

The Housemaid (2025) is a psychological thriller/drama co-produced and directed by Paul Feig (Last Christmas, 2019; Bridesmaids, 2011), based on the 2022 novel of the same name by Freida McFadden.

Alongside up-and-coming young talent Sydney Sweeney, the film also stars Amanda Seyfried (Les Misérables, 2012; Mamma Mia!, 2008) and Brandon Sklenar (Drop, 2025; It Ends With Us, 2024) as the privileged couple who hire Millie.

Shortly after publication, the original novel became a 'monster hit', selling more than two million copies in June 2024 and amassing a large fanbase and readership, mostly through the BookTok community on TikTok. It is, therefore, no surprise that a cinematic adaptation would soon be in production, given the huge audience potential for passionate advocates of the novel.

Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, 2019 - 2026; The White Lotus, 2021) stars as Millie, a young woman with a dark past who finds herself trapped in the middle of strange circumstances when she becomes the new housemaid of a wealthy family's estate

The movie offers very little in terms of anything particularly new or groundbreaking in the psychological erotic thriller department; however, it is a definitive crowd-pleaser with plenty of campy fun to entertain this holiday season. Sometimes it is nice to simply stick on a light, unapologetically goofy movie to switch one's mind off and enjoy, and this is the perfect option for one's designated chill time.

The film does not take itself too seriously and presents a decent mystery to get invested in as we are introduced to a grand, beautiful suburban home with a seemingly perfect nuclear family, which is carefully hiding dark and twisted secrets inside. Similar to most movies of the genre, it is fun to reevaluate the narrative once reveals have been made and connect the dots together as to why characters were acting the way they were previously.

There is a distinct glossy, tidy and picture-perfect quality to the film's earlier set pieces, which cleanly disguise the sinister horror aspects that are unveiled later on. Some viewers may even be repulsed by some of the gnarly, squirm-inducing imagery presented in the final act as the narrative fully commits to its horror undertones, which certainly keeps things juicy and entertaining!

Once the 'big reveal' is given, the plotting does admittedly become pretty predictable and familiar, but the movie manages to maintain engagement with its superbly satisfying play on the classic revenge trope as characters go head-to-head to win dominance over each other. Despite clocking in at just over two hours, the film also flies by, wasting no time in set-up and dropping us right into the centre of this outrageous story.

Despite a seemingly perfect family and gorgeous home, dangerous secrets will soon be discovered, and tensions will begin to thicken

The film's editing is, at times, distracting due to some jarring cuts to a different scene altogether and some general choppiness littered throughout; however, the final cut functions well overall to keep the momentum going at an easily digestible pace. Some well-incorporated voice-over narration, which is not relied upon to provide expositional dialogue to audiences, is also welcome and used sparingly.

There is a large emphasis on celebrating female empowerment, which is a heavily overused theme at this point; however, in the context of this narrative's exploration of domestic violence and satirical commentary on the rich, upper classes, this aspect is easily more forgivable here. The film also cleverly switches things up during its middle act by changing the perspective to Seyfried's Nina, which freshens the stakes and provokes further intrigue.

Despite starring in the leading role, Sydney Sweeney does not quite stick the landing here. It may be a fault on the director's side or the writing, but Sweeney almost appears to be sleepwalking through this part, appearing disengaged with her surroundings. Her character lacks solid agency, remaining largely passive until the final act and relatively bland and forgettable throughout.

Of course, this could certainly have been intentional, as Millie is a typical audience surrogate for both readers and viewers to plant themselves in her place; however, this does not redeem the fact that she does not make for a particularly interesting or exciting lead to follow for two hours.

Brandon Sklenar (left) and Amanda Seyfried (right) both give memorable performances as a married couple on the verge of a psychological breakdown

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Amanda Seyfried's totally manic, scene-stealing performance as the deeply troubled housewife, Nina. Very early on, both Millie and us, the audience, are exposed to her chaotic, almost animalistic outbursts of emotion, rage-fuelled rants which are completely confusing to the casual onlooker, until we discover just what is going on behind closed doors.

Seyfried definitely gives the most memorable performance of the film, and Brandon Sklenar, who made a strong impression in last year's Drop, continues to double down on his likeable, leading man persona. He effortlessly oozes charm and cool masculinity, understandably embodying an attractive allure for the ladies' affections. There is a noticeable lack of character depth or development all around, but just enough is there for the performers to work with.

Overall, The Housemaid is a perfectly serviceable bout of silly, harmless nonsense which is ultimately pretty forgettable, yet oddly endearing due to the honest fun it has to offer. There is nothing particularly creative about its direction, and the mystery element is full of seen-before clichés, but there are some solid performances here and decent entertainment to adequately distract you for a couple of hours.

Check out the trailer for The Housemaid (2025) below, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments!