A struggling woman is happy to start over as a housemaid for an affluent, elite couple.
In the spirit of “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train,” comes “The Housemaid,” a well-crafted thriller that will keep audiences guessing from beginning to end. Sydney Sweeney as Millie plays a parolee desperate for steady work to avoid serving the remaining five years of her prison term. She interviews for a job as a housemaid at the Winchester home, a blue-blooded bastion of inherited wealth if ever there was one. Amanda Seyfried plays Nina, the head of the household, who conducts a very cordial interview with a nervous Millie. The next morning, while sleeping in her car because she has no place to live, Millie gets the good news that she can start immediately if she’s still interested in the job. Of course, she jumps at the opportunity.
That same afternoon, Nina gives Millie a tour of the spacious and lavish home, which includes a private loft and bathroom for the help. Millie meets Nina’s charming husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), who seems a bit surprised that a live-in servant has been hired, but takes it all in stride. All goes swimmingly at first until Nina begins to engage in turbulent outbursts over trivial matters in ways that perplex Millie. As a parolee, Millie cannot leave the area and has limited employment options, so she has to suck things up and deal with the crazy situation.
When Nina really starts to go off the rails, Andrew intercedes on behalf of Millie and essentially serves as her protector. What might otherwise have turned into an intolerable situation for Millie becomes much more manageable thanks to Andrew’s kind efforts.
The Winchesters have a daughter named Cici (Indiana Elle), whom Millie ferries to dance class and sleepovers, and for whom she even periodically cooks, albeit with very little in the way of gratitude. Cici is an oddly detached child, as evidenced by her snobby, rude behavior toward Millie. We learn that Andrew and Nina do not yet have their own children, though they would like to – Cici is Nina’s child from a previous relationship.
One day after running errands for Nina, Millie returns to the Winchester home and encounters Andrew’s mother, Evelyn, a frosty Elizabeth Perkins gleefully playing against type. Evelyn is polite enough, but obviously protective of her dashing son, upon whom she has had an enormous influence. Evelyn, Andrew, and even Cici, for example, all enjoy intoning that so many things in life are not a right but a privilege – a line used to good effect throughout.
Lurking outside the expansive residence, seemingly ever-present, is the gardener Enzo (Michele Morrone), a both creepy and mysterious character who seems obsessed with Millie. His role in the proceedings remains unclear until well into the second act.
At afternoon tea with the gals from the neighborhood, all the wives lust openly for Andrew when Nina leaves the room – they gossip shamelessly in front of Millie as if she were invisible. This leisurely yet engaging preamble of catty conversations and domestic drama set the stage nicely for the events to follow.
“The Housemaid” is the kind of movie that requires us reviewers to tread carefully, lest we reveal too many spoilers. Suffice it to say that fans of a good thriller will not be disappointed. Director Paul Feig has amassed an impressive repertoire over the past 25 years, and this latest outing represents another triumph. Though the film starts slowly, the setup is necessary to lay the groundwork for the unexpected twists and turns that follow.
In Theaters Friday, December 19th
11k
19.8k
1.5k
1.8k