by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
Not to brag, but I know a so-bad-it’s-good movie when I see one. Flimsy plots with twists out of left field, eccentric characters straight from the dream of a stage actor, steamy sex scenes, and interesting editing choices are all hallmarks of a film destined for the five-dollar bin. 2025’s The Housemaid would be a selection right beneath the surface of that special cylinder in electronics section of Walmart. This ultimate fate of the work of hundreds, if not thousands, of people can seem like a bummer. But there are plenty of flicks worth a watch in there. Shoot, some of them may even be made of strong enough stuff to warrant a rewatch.
Desperate for a job and living out of her car, Millie (Sydney Sweeney) applies for a live-in housemaid position with Nina (Amanda Seyfried), whose charming personality makes taking the job an easy decision for Millie. But once she is hired, Nina flips the script on Millie, and becomes the worst boss imaginable. Demanding, demeaning, deceitful. Millie struggles to decide if she should keep the job. Fortunately it appears that Nina’s husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) knows that he is with someone crazy, and he confides this in Millie, which leads to a connection between them. But will his sympathy for Millie lead to something even more dangerous from Nina?
Now here is an absolutely TITANIC performance from Seyfried. When she is on screen, she steals the audience’s attention. Playing a batty person gives her a massive range of emotions to depict in this 130-minute thriller. At times, that range leads her to make some hilarious choices too. Undoubtedly, she will get overlooked during the awards circuit for her performance (but she might sneak in later for The Testament of Ann Lee), but hopefully some of my fellow SiftPop writers will see her in this and give her some much needed props.
Sweeney has the less fun role of the two. Seriously, if this were a high school play, everyone would be going for Nina at auditions. Now, Sweeney still still gets to be part of the fun, because she gets the hidden relationship with Andrew. Even more, she gets to be the first responder to whatever craziness Seyfried throws towards her. In a way, it’s a kind of straight man performance. But later on, she gets to start making a joke or two when she becomes more of the main character. So it is not all a thankless role.
What director Paul Feig brings in his projects is making serious and dark subject matter more palatable. You would expect that this movie would really dry out and make the characters unlikable. But everyone is pushing just the right buttons to make you want to hang out with them for 131 minutes. It helps that every set and place they visit feels lived in and real, but also welcoming in a way that only the upper classes like.
Now a disclaimer: This is ultimately a high level lifetime movie about a bad marriage and the help finding out why it all fell apart. That might sound like a dig, and it may have felt like it as I wrote it that way. But really what that means is that there is a very clear dichotomy at play. On the negative side, you know the characters are not going to make wise decisions that you or I would normally make. Otherwise the movie would not be entertaining. That gives it an upper limit.
But right there is the plus side of the movie: It keeps your eyes glued on it as you wait to see what will happen next. If you can suspend the disbelief that everyone is being completely irrational, you will have a great time. I was in a crowded theater on Thursday night before the Christmas week, and I could feel the audience enjoyment. That is a kind of energy that a movie needs to succeed.
Rating: Liked It
The Housemaid is currently playing in theaters
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