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An entertaining enough thriller (Spoilers)

Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) is a young woman with a dark and troubled past. Living out of her car and desperate for a job, she accepts a position as a housemaid for the Winchester family. The wife, Nina (Amanda Seyfried), is the boss from hell. The husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), is a handsome hunk. The daughter, Cece (Indiana Elle), belongs in a Children of the Corn movie. The groundskeeper, Enzo (Michele Morrone), seems suspicious. 

The Twists

All that said, The Housemaid is a psychological thriller where nothing is as it seems. Even if I didn’t like spoiling the hell out of things in my reviews, this is the type of story that would be very difficult to discuss and analyze without giving something away. For instance, some of this movie’s plot twists are done better than others.

For instance, the plot twist that Andrew, not his wife, is the crazy one is well done. It turns out that he likes to lock women up in the attic for not living up to his meticulous standards. There are a lot of little moments – how scared Nina looks after she hires Millie without telling him, how subtly domineering Andrew is towards his wife and stepdaughter – that stick out on a second viewing or if you know what to look for. 

However, the plot twist that Millie was in jail for killing a guy comes out of nowhere in the movie. In the book, after dealing with Nina’s abuse one too many times, Millie throws a glass cup on the floor in frustration. The film removes that hint that Millie has violent tendencies. They should have kept that in, and the deleted scene (NSFW) where Millie runs into an old co-worker, and it’s mentioned that she gave her last boss eight stitches for being handsy.

A Major Change

If you watch this movie without reading the book, you’ll probably wonder why Morrone got his own character poster, given that he has about 5 minutes of screen time. Enzo wasn’t a glorified extra in the book. I’m guessing the only reason he wasn’t adapted out entirely is that he’s going to have a much bigger role in the sequels. Enzo’s lack of screentime is unfortunate, as he’s arguably the most morally upstanding person in the story.

Millie has a sadistic streak, but only takes it out on people who deserve it. Andrew has an overbearing mother, but he’s still an abusive monster. Nina is a victim, but her solution to get off the hook is to hire another woman as her replacement. Cece is a brat, but is also another one of Andrew’s victims. Enzo is the only one who believes Nina, offers to kill Andrew himself, and repeatedly objects to getting Millie involved in the whole situation.

Both the book and the movie end with Nina having a change of heart and returning to rescue Millie, who had already turned the tables on Andrew by locking him in the attic. In the book, Andrew has already passed away. In the movie, he’s still alive. So, when Nina unlocks the attic door, thinking Millie’s the one trapped, a more actionized and violent climax ensues.

What Works and Doesn’t

My favorite scene in the movie is actually a new edition. After Andrew gets out, he tries to talk Nina into coming back to him and pretending that this whole thing never happened. And despite Sklenar really turning on the charm, Nina responds by essentially telling Andrew to go f**k himself. Seyfried’s performance during that scene is so good.

As a whole, the film seems tonally unsure of itself. For instance, the part where Nina brandishes a bloody mirror shard and tells Millie ‘What, you overheard those PTA c***s saying that I’m crazy’ seems like the movie is itching to go full Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, but holds back. By contrast, other scenes, like when Nina dances around to “Since U Been Gone” (NSFW), belong in a campier movie. 

Another issue is that Sweeney’s performance is rather wooden, which is most obvious during the voiceovers. It’s hard not to notice the lack of inflection even when you can only hear Sweeney’s voice. However, Seyfried’s performance is great, I enjoyed Sklenar going whole hog at the end, and the movie is entertaining enough. If you’re into this sort of story, I’d check it out.