The Real Successor To Sydney Sweeney’s R-Rated $401 Million Thriller Isn’t Its Sequel

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I’ve been really enjoying the surge in psychological thrillers lately – it feels like every streaming service has one dominating the charts! While Sydney Sweeney’s The Housemaid has been a huge success for her, I’m actually more excited about another project from the same director. It’s a book adaptation, and honestly, it has the potential to be even better. We’ve already seen so many hits in this genre recently, like Netflix’s Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, the twisty 56 Days on Prime Video, and Peacock’s All Her Fault, which broke viewing records. It’s a great time to be a thriller fan!

It’s no surprise that Paul Feig’s new thriller, The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, quickly became a hit in theaters. However, its level of success has been truly remarkable. Since its December 2025 release, the film has broken streaming records and earned an impressive $400 million worldwide. Critics generally enjoyed the movie, with many even preferring it to the original Freida McFadden novel it’s based on.

Given how well The Housemaid did, it’s not surprising – and definitely good news – that a sequel is planned with the same team. However, director Paul Feig has another potentially big thriller in the works. Before The Housemaid became a hit, he was set to direct The House Across The Lake for Netflix, a story with even more twists and turns that could be just as successful.

The Housemaid’s Director Is Attached To The House Across The Lake

Released in 2022, The House Across The Lake tells the story of Casey Fletcher, an actress struggling with grief and alcohol after her husband’s death. While trying to escape the public eye, her agent, and her overbearing mother, Casey becomes fixated on the seemingly perfect couple living across the lake – a model and her tech CEO husband. She quickly notices, however, that their glamorous life might be hiding some serious problems within their marriage.

Saying more would spoil the surprising twist in this cleverly crafted story, which clearly pays tribute to Rear Window. The plot takes an unexpected turn that even the most perceptive reader won’t see coming. Similar to the big reveal in The Housemaid, the third-act twist in The House Across The Lake might be even more impactful as a visual experience, as the book’s plot draws inspiration from many famous films.

Without spoiling anything, let me just say the twist in The House Across The Lake is a lot wilder than the one in The Housemaid. And honestly, that’s fantastic news that Paul Feig has been lined up to direct the Netflix adaptation since 2023. He clearly gets this genre. After seeing how well he balanced suspense and humor in both The Housemaid and A Simple Favor, I’m confident he’s exactly the right director to bring this bestselling psychological thriller to life on screen. He understands how to make these stories work, and he’s not afraid to have some fun while doing it.

Netflix’s The House Across The Lake Is A Perfect Follow-up To The Housemaid

Both The Housemaid and The House Across the Lake tell suspenseful stories with unbelievable twists, but they manage to avoid becoming overly silly because readers are so eager to find out what happens next. However, a movie version of either book would need to give viewers clues about the surprising plot points sooner. This is where director Paul Feig, who is known for his comedies, actually seems like an ideal choice for adapting either story.

Riley Sager Novels (In Chronological Order)
Title Release Year
Final Girls 2017
The Last Time I Lied 2018
Lock Every Door 2019
Home Before Dark 2020
Survive the Night 2021
The House Across the Lake 2022
The Only One Left 2023
Middle of the Night 2024

Without spoiling anything, the twist in The House Across The Lake is even more surprising than the one in The Housemaid. The movie does a great job of presenting its characters realistically, even though the story itself is quite unbelievable. When done well, psychological thrillers can explore challenging and sensitive topics with both humor and cleverness, much like David Lynch’s famously quirky Twin Peaks.

After directing A Simple Favor, Paul Feig showed he’s skilled at mixing surprising twists with clever humor, making him a perfect choice to adapt The House Across The Lake. Beyond that, the Netflix film has exciting potential because, unlike the upcoming sequel to The Housemaid which continues an established story, The House Across The Lake could pave the way for a more original and unpredictable series of films.

Netflix’s The House Across The Lake Can Start An Overdue Trend

Okay, so The Housemaid had a seriously crazy twist that totally got me! But honestly, the next two books in the series weren’t as good, at least according to reviewers. Once you find out the big secret about the main character in the first book, it kind of gives everything away in the sequels. It’s like, you see where the story is going right away. It’s a shame, because I love Riley Sager, the author of The House Across The Lake, and she’s written nine other books that haven’t been turned into movies yet – so there’s a lot more to discover!

If Netflix’s The House Across The Lake does well, we might see more of Tana Sager’s books turned into movies. Because each of her novels tells a complete, separate story, these psychological thrillers would be harder to guess than the continuing story of The Housemaid. While most of Sager’s books are straightforward thrillers, some include elements of supernatural horror, making them even more surprising for fans of the genre.

Netflix’s hit show You, with its five seasons of suspense, demonstrates that psychological thrillers can maintain a dedicated audience over time, especially if follow-ups like the Housemaid sequels continue to offer fresh and surprising storylines. While those sequels are important, director Feig’s adaptation of Sager’s novel The House Across The Lake has the potential to be even more successful, provided he skillfully delivers the story’s complex mystery and shocking reveal. Sager’s standalone thrillers are consistently popular, suggesting a strong foundation for this new adaptation.

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2026-04-23 15:11