Down on her luck, Millie seeks solace and stability as a housemaid within the wealthy Winchester family in Long Island, New York. But does the glossy facade hide something far more sinister within.
From an international bestseller written by Freida McFadden in 2022, with a screen adaptation by Rebecca Sonenshine and directed by Paul Feig, who brought us Bridesmaids and A Simple Favor we dive head first into the ‘domestic thriller’ which was made popular in the cinematic early 1990’s. With some well known films such as Single White Female and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle which gave us the twisty tight turns of a spectacle to watch through your fingers, as we once again find ourselves within the genre that done well provides a very entertaining watch. The Housemaid is one of those brilliantly trashy, well executed films.
Starring a predominant triple header of Sydney Sweeney as Millie, who has a troubled past that comes to light throughout the film in the best way seeks a job, a cleaner life and indeed somewhere to stay that is not sleeping in her car which smells of feet. The gorgeous and spacious gated Winchester home is her means of immediate escape. Owned by the seemingly perfect Nina and Andrew Winchester played brilliantly by Amanda Seyfried in one of her more sinister roles, and the ever handsome Brandon Sklenar (Drop) – who is apparently in the running as DC’s new Batman. Also with obnoxious daughter Cecelia or ‘Cee,Cee’ played by Indiana Elle, our setting of the highs and of course lows is indeed set.
The Housemaid is not so much a roller coaster of ups and downs but more of a helter skelter that from an initial high descends superbly and oh so rapidly into a dark and tangled not so dusty web. Millie requires a job and Nina requires help in more than one way. There is a rule in cinema known as ‘Chekhov’s Gun’ where if a rifle is introduced on stage, it must go off, and this is where the Housemaid in the most intricate of ways works so well. At this point, I will not reveal the items so as not to spoil but they will become quite clear as the madness escalates. Each of the main actors make this screenplay jump off the screen and punch us firmly in our guts as we partially see the pitfalls of the close live-in role within this genre.
Sweeney once again gives a well acted, solid central focus to this film and makes the character her own as she seeks to swerve Nina’s sporadic outbursts, but it is those sometimes subtle outbursts from Seyfried that lift this from a potential ‘B Movie’ into something far darker within the solace of the glossy Long Island frosty sunshine backdrop. Amanda Seyfried is having a whale of a time as her calm demeanor quickly fades away as she tries desperately to keep her home running smoothly despite the fact she now has help to do so. From the character’s initial inviting smiles, she turns on a sixpence as she makes her scenes far more tense than expected and in turn delivers this in spades upon the audience.
With minimal additional outside settings, the film is set mostly within the home of the Winchesters, that over the course of the film begin to contract into something visually more confining, bringing us into a world mentally suffocating those around them. The Housemaid is most definitely one to watch in a packed cinema as the twists and turns continue to deliver gasps and winces as we become a part of the ensuing horror from a film that typically would run at a brisk 90 minutes. Adding 40 minutes to this delivers a more divisive and deeper, though not completely horrifying film that is still dark enough to remain in the forefront of our minds over the coming days. Viewing this a second time knowing the outcome creates a whole new experience that with the typical horror genre can become tedious as we take our ride once again to the revealed finale. Not so here. The further viewings allow us to view the narrative from another point of view giving us a new joyously dark treat to devour.
The Housemaid’s Secret, which is the second in the written series is unsurprisingly on its way as the audience box office figures continue to grow giving the studio a very healthy 400% return on its initial $35million well spent outlay. This will most certainly bring back characters from the first and will be lapped up in the same scarily joyous way by audiences around the globe. There is a distinct possibility – depending on filming commitments – that the third book The Housemaid is Watching will be filmed in turn back to back creating what should then be a perfect trilogy of dark, domestic thrillers from three actors who continue to grow in their own brilliant way.
Try to see this in theatres and be absorbed not only with a well written script and awesome soundtrack that includes Lana Del Rey, Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift, but with the gasps of the not quite so reserved audience. As a quick note here, those who are afraid of the dentist may want to view this with tightly gripped, closed mouths.
Author: Piers, Maidstone Store
