A struggling young woman is relieved by the chance for a fresh start as a maid for a wealthy couple. Soon, she discovers that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.
Well, talk about a sexy, puzzling, enticing, scary plot to a film–that would without a doubt be director Feig‘s current offering, “The Housemaid.” Based on the book by Freida McFadden, it stars Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seifried as two women who both unknowingly compete with and intertwine. McFadden is an author known for her mastery of plot twists, surprises, and unforgettable characters, and “The Housemaid” fills all those slots and more. The film brings it all to life.
The girl, Millie (Sweeney), arrives at a wealthy home to be interviewed for a position as a housemaid for the couple that lives there. She is immediately engulfed and accepted by the wife, Nina (Seyfried), who is both beautiful and charming. When Millie later meets Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), Nina’s husband, she is immediately aware of his movie star good looks and charm. He is a perfect match for his wife, and Millie can barely contain her excitement when she is offered the job. The house is impressive, and she is introduced to the spare top-floor room where she will live. All is quite fine as Millie desperately needs the money and also a place to stay.
The house is gorgeous and fun to take care of and to prepare meals for Nina, Andrew, and their somewhat insignificant but seemingly entitled young daughter. Millie can’t believe her good luck in securing the position of housemaid in this beautiful house with this equally beautiful family, until things begin to seem less than they were at the beginning. Here goes the twists and turns. Hold on. First, the husband is not as devoted to his wife as it might seem. Millie questions the family’s dynamics. The wife’s motivation for hiring Millie raises some concerns as well.
It’s a house full of secrets. It’s a house full of lies. It’s a house full of ambiguity where roles become fluid, and around every corner, you may find everything has become topsy-turvy. Characters morph into motives and personal traits we had not seen or felt before, and in an hour or a day, can morph back, return to the person you thought you knew. The plotline is designed almost literally to keep you on your toes. When you may expect things to proceed one way, the opposite happens. You may be befuddled or maybe just mildly puzzled at first. Then the plot takes on a sinister turn. As an audience member you will ask yourself, What is happening? Where is this going? But we are kept in suspense and led on, despite feeling frustrated from time to time. If, like me, you try to figure out how this will all end, then everything changes again.
All that said, this is not a film that rambles. It’s sharp, it’s concise. The suspense is shocking, and the sex is eye-opening. Your confusion, when you are led along a perfectly reasonable path to discover later it didn’t lead where you expected, heightens your interest. Never fear, however, because McFadden is famous for waiting until the very end for you to know how everything wraps together. When that begins to unfold, your mind immediately bounces back to previous scenes and realizes, “Oh, now see it! Oh gosh, of course, now it all makes perfect sense.”
The actors, director, and editor make all this happen. The pace is so important to this film, and it is always on point. It’s sometimes a little bit funny, it’s sometimes a bit puzzling or a bit confusing, but the fun is the “Oh, I get it!” and some “Wait a minute, what?. Wow! What happened?”
“The Housemaid” is a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre. The cast is perfect, the music and set are exact, and they fill everything in as it should be. This is likely to be a box office smash, as it should be.
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