The Housemaid
English - Drama / Thriller131 minPrime Video
The plot of The Housemaid feels straight out of an ’80s–’90s B-movie playbook. A young woman gets hired as a housemaid in a wealthy household. The husband is a handsome tech bro, the young daughter is unsettlingly reserved and the young and attractive wife who has ..issues.
Millie (Sydney Sweeney) needs the job, so she puts up with Nina’s (Amanda Seyfried) eccentricities and tries her best to make an impression. Andrew (Brendan Sklenar), on the other hand, is warm and supportive, and a certain closeness begins to develop between them… and you know where this is going...don't you? Fans of the popular novel by Freida Mcfadden, would know.
The second main reason 😼 for this being on my list was my wife told me that the story would be perfect for a movie. The film leans fully into its B-grade commercial DNA, the generation hottie, the handsome lead, and another good-looking groundskeeper (Michele Morrone, no barn scene unfortunately) and it yet, it works.
You cannot really dissect performances in a film like this, but to its credit, Andrew Winchester comes across as a confident screen presence, this is perhaps his breakout moment.
Sydney Sweeney does what she does best. Effortlessly holding the camera’s attention, even when the script is on autopilot. For a woman living in a car, her “simple” wardrobe is meant to hold your attention :) Credit to her that she fully commits to the film’s ridiculous tone. The director obviously knows what he is doing here. It has paid off with Sweeney’s off screen popularity translating into a huge success, green lighting a potential sequel.
Amanda Seyfried is good here. She showed immense promise in the late 2000s / early 2010's. For a while it felt like she and Emma Stone would be the next wave of Hollywood leading ladies. While Stone has surged ahead, an awards-season regular at this point—Seyfried has fallen way behind. Perhaps this film gives her the visibility, because she has always brought the right mix of charm, acting chops, and screen presence.
Fun Trivia - Seyfried now has the rare distinction of sharing screen space with the two generations of poster girls. After appearing alongside Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body (JB), she now faces off against Sydney Sweeney. If you have watched JB, unfortunately no redux (IYKYK).
The twists land well enough to keep things engaging, despite the very familiar road the film takes to get there. It is unapologetically template-driven, but effective.
Makes for a perfect weeknight low brain drain watch.
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