The Housemaid Review: Amanda Seyfried Shines In Paul Feig's Campy Thriller

In 2018, writer-director Paul Feig adapted Darcey Bell's novel "A Simple Favor" for the big screen and accomplished something notable: he improved upon the source material by embracing the novel's campier impulses and dialed everything up to 11 (in the parlance of the late, great Rob Reiner). Feig has done it again with "The Housemaid," his adaptation of Freida McFadden's best-selling thriller.

For the uninitiated, "The Housemaid" books basically launched McFadden's literary career in 2022 after making a splash, in particular, on a subsection of TikTok colloquially known as "BookTok" — but the real and honest truth here is that McFadden's prose can be simplistic and lacking. Thankfully, Feig took the structure of her admittedly fascinating and deliciously dark story of a young woman who starts working as the titular housemaid for a wealthy family, only to discover that something is terribly wrong — and heightened everything, making another camp classic thriller that feels like, down the line, it could be endlessly rewatchable.

Sydney Sweeney ostensibly leads the film as Millie, a mysterious and downtrodden young woman who's sleeping in her car until she finally gets that job with Nina Winchester, the lady of a massive mansion in Long Island played perfectly by Amanda Seyfried. At first, Millie thinks that Nina and her handsome husband Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar) have the perfect life, but after Nina turns into the boss from hell and Andrew becomes a source of sympathy and support for Millie, the plot thickens. In Feig and Seyfried's capable hands, Millie's journey into hell with the Winchesters is ... delightful.

Unfortunately, Sydney Sweeney is woefully miscast in "The Housemaid." Even though it seems like Millie is supposed to be sort of a blank slate at first — which would be perfect for Sweeney, an actress who seems more inclined to a, shall we say, "minimalistic" approach to acting outside of her barn-burning line reads on "Euphoria" — she has a troubled and dark past of her own that becomes unbelievably relevant as the story goes on. Sweeney is, frankly, unable to fully deliver on Millie's transformation, apart from a few moments where director Paul Feig smartly figured out how to tweak her deadpan performance into something sort of funny (although to discuss those specifics would, sadly, be a massive spoiler, and we won't address that here).

Amanda Seyfried, on the other hand, runs away with this movie more or less as soon as she appears on-screen. Again, without getting into major spoilers, what Seyfried is doing is akin to what Allison Williams did in Jordan Peele's horror masterpiece "Get Out," in that one can easily imagine rewatching this film and looking for subtle clues about Nina's true nature and her endgame. It's not shocking that Seyfried, an industry veteran who's been turning in great performances for decades, is far and away the best performance in "The Housemaid." But while it does provide a pretty stark contrast to Sweeney's mumbled lines and flat expressions, it also helps sell "The Housemaid" as a camp classic. Feig's direction also pulls this movie firmly into a campy, fun direction, but he's certainly aided by Seyfried's truly masterful turn as the wide-eyed, twitchy, and seemingly strange Nina.

The first hour of "The Housemaid" only drags a little bit if you're not familiar with the source material. If you are familiar with the book's big twist, you'll be kicking your feet and grinning while you wait for the huge and drastic turn, and you'll be richly rewarded when that comes to pass. Again, we knew that Paul Feig — known for everything from "Freaks and Geeks" to "Bridesmaids" to "Spy" — was capable of such a thing because of "A Simple Favor," a delightfully heightened movie that veers into insane territory but remains fun regardless. He works his same magic on "The Housemaid," which speaks to Feig's impeccable understanding of comedic timing; there are several laugh-out-loud moments in this movie, even amongst some genuinely gory, gruesome moments. (Fair warning, without spoilers: the camera lingers on a few close-ups of intense physical violence, which may unsettle some audience members.)

Balancing serious subject matter with a campy sensibility is a major strong suit for Feig, and ultimately, it seems like "The Housemaid" might have been an absolute disaster in the hands of a less talented director or with anyone other than Amanda Seyfried at the helm (here, we should say that Brandon Sklenar is also extremely good as the seemingly perfect Andrew Winchester, but it's not his fault that Seyfried steals every single scene in which he appears). Is "The Housemaid" a serious movie? No. Is it often bogged down by a clunky script penned by Rebecca Sonnenshine? Yes. Is it sometimes even stupid? Definitely. Is it fun to watch and sure to become a fun staple? Yes, absolutely — thanks to Seyfried and Feig.

"The Housemaid" hits theaters on December 19.