The Housemaid - The scoop and digest

From a screenplay by Rebecca Sonnenshine, co-producer and director Paul Feig adapts Freida McFadden's 2022 novel of same name.

Sydney Sweeney - Millie Calloway

Amanda Seyfried - Nina Winchester

Brandon Sklenar - Andrew Winchester

Michele Morrone - Enzo

Elizabeth Perkins - Evelyn Winchester

Summary

Shortly after being released from prison for manslaughter, Millie Calloway is hired as a live-in maid by Nina and Andrew Winchester at their luxury estate home.

Her room in the attic has a window that doesn't open and locks from the outside.

It's revealed that Nina allegedly tried to drown her daughter Cecelia when she was a child.

When a mix up forces Nina to miss a Broadway play, Millie and Andrew secretly go together, leading them to have a special cuddle.

After Nina leaves, Millie discovers Andrew has a personality darker than an eclipse.

Hundred strands of hair

Story twists and turns in predictable fashion, but thanks to committed performances (particularly by Seyfried), this ticks along nicely, definitely feeding off psychological thrillers from the 90's, such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (not 2025 remake) and Single White Female.

A flashback shows a teenage Millie bludgeoning a boy to death while he's raping her best friend Kelsey.  After finding this out, Nina believed Millie was capable of doing what she couldn't: kill Andrew.

Andrew is an unhinged control freak, who likes to imprison and 'punish' women before setting them free.

Millie turns the tables, forcing him into DIY dentistry.

In the book, Millie keeps Andrew trapped inside the room until he dies of thirst.

Here, Millie pushes him over the edge of a spiral staircase.  She then unscrews and drops a lightbulb below, making out his death was an accident.

McFadden wrote two sequels, The Housemaid's Secret and The Housemaid is Watching.  Winter-themed bonus short The Housemaid's Wedding is supposed to bridge the gap between Book 2 and 3, but is apparently also standalone.