Sydney Sweeney Thriller 'The Housemaid' Is a Ridiculous Masterpiece That Actually Works

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Sydney Sweeney as Millie in 'The Housemaid'.

Published Mar 13, 2026, 6:15 AM EDT

André Joseph is a movie features writer at Collider. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor's Degree in Film. He freelances as an independent filmmaker, teacher, and blogger of all things pop culture. His interests include Marvel, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Robocop, wrestling, and many other movies and TV shows.

His accomplishments as a filmmaker include directing the indie movie Vendetta Games now playing on Tubi, the G.I. Joe fan film "The Rise of Cobra" on YouTube, and receiving numerous accolades for his dramatic short film Dismissal Time. More information can be found about André on his official website.

Ever since she landed on Hollywood’s radar with her work on HBO’s Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney has become more than just another industry starlet. Undoubtedly, her attractive looks have led her to headline mainstream fare such as Madam Web and Anyone but You. However, Sweeney has also proven she can handle bold projects that raise her acting game, whether she’s working opposite Julianne Moore in Echo Valley or embodying female boxing legend Christy Martin in the biopic Christy. With such a diverse body of work, the star was the right fit for Paul Feig’s pulpy thriller The Housemaid.

Based on the 2022 novel by Freida McFadden, The Housemaid appears to be a glossy erotic thriller in the tradition of Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and Gone Girl. Yet, the film walks a fine line between popcorn camp and ironic social commentary. Sweeney, alongside Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, elevated what could have been a disposable Lifetime movie into something simultaneously ridiculous and razor-sharp. Critics embraced the film. The Housemaid holds a 73% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Between its guilty pleasure tension and provocative twist, The Housemaid is a brilliant addition to the thriller genre that understands exactly how to subvert audience expectations.

What Is 'The Housemaid' About?

Millie Calloway (Sweeney) is a convicted felon on parole for manslaughter years earlier. She’s homeless and in search of a job when she gets hired to be a live-in housemaid for wealthy Long Island couple Nina (Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Sklenar) and their daughter, Cece (Indiana Elle). Living in the bare attic bedroom of the Winchesters’ lavish mansion and keeping her past a secret, Millie soon discovers that the Winchesters are not the perfect image of a suburban family.

Tensions arise between Millie and Nina as the latter comes across as volatile and neurotic towards her employee, frequently miscommunicating her orders and blaming her. Add to that Millie’s growing attraction to Andrew, who constantly plays the voice of reason in the household, and Nina becomes even more obsessed. As the two women gradually learn more about their respective histories, a greater revelation upends this troublesome household.

'The Housemaid' Flips the Dangerous Outsider Trope

Sydney Sweeney sitting near a dollhouse, looks over her shoulder in The Housemaid

What makes The Housemaid work so effectively is its willingness to embrace the heightened tone of female-driven melodrama. Director Feig leans into the kind of dramatic beats that might feel outrageous in a more restrained thriller. The film uses simmering confrontations, emotionally charged twists, and a constant sense that every character is hiding something explosive beneath the surface. Instead of trying to disguise those elements, The Housemaid amplifies them. This creates a tension that feels both playful and nerve-wracking.

At the same time, the story cleverly reframes the kind of narrative audiences expect from slow-burn thrillers about outsiders infiltrating wealthy households, as in such films as Pacific Heights and Parasite. The audience might assume that Sweeney’s Millie represents the disruptive force — the outsider whose presence threatens to destabilize a privileged family. But The Housemaid flips that dynamic. The real menace isn’t the newcomer struggling to rebuild her life. It’s the seemingly perfect household itself, a carefully constructed environment where appearances matter far more than truth.

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'The Housemaid' Cast Plays Against Type

Sweeney proves to be an ideal guide through this twisted domestic landscape. Her performance balances empathy and unpredictability, allowing audiences to root for Millie while still wondering what she might be capable of. It’s a tricky line to walk. Yet, Sweeney leans into the film’s pulpy tone with confidence. She gives the character a sense of resilience that anchors the story, even as the narrative grows increasingly outrageous.

In a similar fashion, Seyfried drops her girl-next-door persona from the 2010s to play the icy, unstable wife. Her psychotic breakdown in the kitchen, when she accuses Millie of losing her PTA notes, is played so perfectly that it creates the sense of a spouse from hell. So when The Housemaid’s big twist happens, it is a jaw-dropping moment that throws off everything the audience thought they knew about the character. Additionally, Sklenar is perfectly cast as the overly sensitive Andrew. Coming off breakout roles as the good guy in It Ends With Us and Drop, the actor projects the image of a desirable, charming husband tortured by his wife’s mental issues. Like Seyfried, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Sklenar’s warm demeanor.

The Housemaid succeeds because it understands exactly what kind of movie it wants to be. It’s a relentless melodramatic thriller that embraces its twists, its heightened emotions, and its deliciously absurd premise. Yet beneath that pulpy exterior lies a smart inversion of familiar thriller tropes, one that suggests the most dangerous thing in the world might be a household that looks too perfect. In that sense, the film isn’t just entertainingly ridiculous — it’s a ridiculous masterpiece that knows precisely why it works.