Let’s Talk About the Big Honking Twist in The Housemaid

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The new thriller, The Housemaid, starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, definitely has a major twist. You won’t be watching this movie for complex characters or award-winning performances – the character development is weak, and while Seyfried is energetic as Nina Winchester, she outperforms a lackluster Sweeney as Millie Calloway, the housekeeper hired to manage Nina’s large home. The real draw of The Housemaid, based on Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel, is its unpredictable plot. It’s the kind of movie where shocking twists are the whole point, and it’s impossible to discuss it without giving away the big reveal. Consider this a spoiler warning – I won’t even attempt to summarize what happens after the midpoint.

The story begins with Millie, who is starting a new life after spending ten years in prison – a secret she keeps from her new employer. Initially, Nina, the homeowner, seems pleasant, though a bit high-strung. Her daughter, Cece, is withdrawn, and her husband, Andrew, is cautiously optimistic about having a live-in housekeeper. However, Nina’s behavior quickly becomes erratic. She has outbursts, unfairly criticizes Millie, and gives conflicting instructions. Millie learns from a nanny that Nina was previously hospitalized for threatening herself and her daughter, and local mothers whisper that Andrew deserves better than Nina. As Nina’s abuse escalates – Millie even needs rescuing from her a couple of times – and Millie notices Andrew’s good looks, she starts to believe the gossip. After a particularly unstable episode leads to an affair between Millie and Andrew, Andrew leaves Nina. But this turns out to be exactly what Nina intended – she’s been secretly planning her escape from an abusive and controlling husband all along.

It’s odd how Paul Feig has become known for adapting steamy women’s fiction, but his new film, The Housemaid, falls somewhere in quality between the enjoyable A Simple Favor and its less successful sequel. Feig smartly avoids making fun of the story’s illogical parts—acknowledging its absurdity would feel disrespectful. Unlike A Simple Favor, which playfully explored the dynamic between two women, The Housemaid takes itself seriously. We see Millie and Andrew sharing late-night flirtations, and Nina, the wife, slowly unraveling as she senses a threat. While the film doesn’t fully achieve the stylish Gothic romance it initially aims for—Sweeney doesn’t quite convince as someone falling in love—it gets close enough to make the plot twist feel rewarding.

Nina’s behavior towards Millie has been genuinely cruel, even manipulative, and the story attempts to explain it by revealing a traumatic past. We learn Nina was held captive and falsely labeled as mentally ill by a man who abused her, but her solution – to essentially push Millie into a similar situation with her husband – feels deeply flawed. While the story tries to portray Nina as a fellow victim, justifying her actions by highlighting her own suffering, it falls into a problematic trope. It suggests that her past trauma excuses harming another woman, creating a different kind of camp than the darkly comedic tone of something like A Simple Favor. Nina rationalizes her behavior by believing Millie is strong enough to cope, and hints that Millie deserves whatever happens because of her own past mistakes – implying she also had an affair. This justification, rooted solely in Nina’s personal oppression, feels unsettling.

The film The Housemaid comes close to being a satire when it shows two blonde women finally uniting against the villain after competing for the chance to live in the sterile, luxurious Winchester home—a place as bland and impersonal as something created by artificial intelligence. This is the incredibly generic fantasy they risked everything for: an unused second living room, a spotless white kitchen, and a fancy dinner. But the film doesn’t quite reach that satirical point. Instead, it becomes simply silly and hollow, though it does include a memorable moment where Seyfried casually mentions that charcuterie boards are a typical European breakfast. Honestly, that line is more impactful than any major plot twist.

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2025-12-20 00:02