The Housemaid movie review: Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried shine in familiar domestic thriller

Sydney Sweeney as Millie and Amanda Seyfried as Nina in The Housemaid. (Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate)

The Housemaid movie review: Housemaids and house mistresses share a relationship that is testy at best. Put striking blonde Sweeney and striking blonde Seyfried in the two roles, and there are bound to be fireworks.

This is, of course, what Feig is counting on, resting this stretched and mostly familiar story on the solid ground provided by the two actors, who play off each other with just the right amount of tension and chemistry.

Thanks to the two, it’s clear from the start that nothing is as it appears in the stately mansion belonging to the even more stately named the Winchesters. Andrew Winchester (Sklenar) works in IT and the family home, from the tip of its tiny attic to its dungeon man cave, has been built to his “precise specifications”. That detail is one of the many throwaways by his wife Nina (Seyfried), as she introduces their house and household to wannabe-housemaid Millie (Sweeney).

The latter drives away, believing she has made a wasted trip, for a woman as thorough as Nina was bound to do a little digging into her past and discover her many unseemly secrets.

That Nina calls Millie soon after and urges her to join work as soon as possible, to the surprise of both Andrew and Nina’s brattish daughter Cecilia, is another sign that all is not right in this Stepford Wives universe.

Millie has a hard landing, finding the Winchester home a complete mess on the day of her joining, in contrast to her first visit. From one moment to the next, she can’t tell what will set Nina off, or what instructions she will completely deny giving. As Millie is the subject of numerous Nina tirades, Andrew leans, rather heavily, on Millie’s side – an inclination not lost on the tempestuous Nina.

The situation, as they say, is ripe for a disaster. Those familiar with the Freida McFadden bestseller that the film is based on will know how it goes. But even those who are not, can join the dots quicker than The Housemaid gives them credit for.

Sweeney, her glamour tamped down for the most part, and Seyfried are what keep the wheels oiled – with Elizabeth Perkins as Andrew’s snobbish mother making a threesome.

However, the mild and mildewed Sklenar (It Ends With Us) is hardly worth the sweat the three expend on him.

The Housemaid movie director: Paul Feig The Housemaid movie cast: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar The Housemaid movie rating: 2.5 stars