The Housemaid (2025)
Directed by Paul Feig
Trying to escape her past, Millie Calloway accepts a job as a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Nina and Andrew Winchester. But what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous—a sexy, seductive game of secrets, scandal, and power.
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73 films that influenced The Housemaid
What critics say influenced The Housemaid
The critic consensus frames The Housemaid as a “sly throwback” to older lurid thrillers, with Feig trying his hand at a twist-heavy story that feels like it wants to chase the Gone Girl mood.
This is but the latest chicklit trend to light up cinemas after the 2000s deluge of Nicholas Sparks adaptations and crime thriller era which peaked with Gone Girl and eventually led to the Netflix parody miniseries The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.
“The Housemaid” finds itself at an interesting crossroads between the self-aware suburban mysteries of the post-”Gone Girl” era and the sort of heightened psychological thriller common in the ‘90s. However, the sort of knotiness within “Gone Girl” isn’t possible for “The Housemaid” when each of its maneuvers is so clearly orchestrated.
A pulpy erotic thriller that channels the airport-read energy of Gone Girl…
Perdida (Gone Girl) (2014)…
The Housemaid either needs to veer into outright parody or nestle into the dark, psychotic space where David Fincher took Gone Girl.
Much to my surprise, The Housemaid is mostly, dare I say, a “hoot,” and it’s nice to see Feig trying to bring back erotic thrillers like Fatal Attraction or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (especially after how disappointing this year’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle remake was).
There are echoes of Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Single White Female, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle in its glossy surfaces, sexual tension, and escalating paranoia.
El largometraje de Feig se inspira o busca asemejarse a los thrillers de fines de los ’80 y principios de los ’90 del estilo de «Atracción Fatal» (1987), «9 semanas y media» (1986) y «Bajos Instintos» (1992), donde se explotaba el capital erótico de sus estrellas y al mismo tiempo se intentaba contar una historia intrincada llena de giros sorprendentes y duelos de grandes proporciones entre los protagonistas.
…the film tries to take aim at systemic misogyny using the familiar framework of tales like Fatal Attraction which have ingrained psycho ex-girlfriends into popular culture…
A “Basic Instinct” here, a “Fatal Attraction” there.
…follows a proud lineage of psychological thrillers with an erotic edge like 1987’s Fatal Attraction and 1992’s Basic Instinct…
It fits neatly alongside Tyler Perry melodramas, erotic thrillers like Deep Water, or even the most obscene slasher flicks.
These days they don’t tend to get made anymore, apart from an occasional misfire like The Voyeurs (2021) or Deep Water (2022)…
A film that tries to evoke the themes and exaggerated fun of classics like Basic Instinct or Single White Female, but doesn’t achieve the necessary bite or reticent performances to succeed.
There are echoes of Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Single White Female, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle in its glossy surfaces, sexual tension, and escalating paranoia.
…turns Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney into modern-day Davis and Crawford, like something out of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? mashed up with a ’90s-style female thriller like Single White Female, or Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but teetering on the edge of cinematic insanity.
For a vibe reading, think: Single White Female; The Hand That Rocks the Cradle; The Crush; Sleeping With the Enemy; Poison Ivy; Body Heat; Fatal Attraction; and so on.
You know the ones, flicks like Basic Instinct (1992), Single White Female (1992), Poison Ivy (1992) and Sliver (1993).
SINGLE WHITE FEMALE…
A film that tries to evoke the themes and exaggerated fun of classics like Basic Instinct or Single White Female, but doesn’t achieve the necessary bite or reticent performances to succeed.
There are echoes of Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Single White Female, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle in its glossy surfaces, sexual tension, and escalating paranoia.
El largometraje de Feig se inspira o busca asemejarse a los thrillers de fines de los ’80 y principios de los ’90 del estilo de «Atracción Fatal» (1987), «9 semanas y media» (1986) y «Bajos Instintos» (1992), donde se explotaba el capital erótico de sus estrellas y al mismo tiempo se intentaba contar una historia intrincada llena de giros sorprendentes y duelos de grandes proporciones entre los protagonistas.
A diferencia de clásicos como Instinto básico o La mano que mece la cuna, aquí hay una prudencia contemporánea —quizá hija de lecturas feministas inevitables— que atenúa la negrura, la incorrección y la osadía que definían a aquel cine orgullosamente cursi y excesivo.
A “Basic Instinct” here, a “Fatal Attraction” there.
We are back in the sleazy, glossy world of Curtis Hanson’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle or Joe Eszterhas’s Basic Instinct, but skating quite close, though not too close, to satire.
Just imagine if the script instead indulged in more bizarre lines like “I used to love Doggy Chow” from Showgirls.
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…for an unreal finale that matches the styling of Feig’s original A Simple Favor.
It has more to do with the intrigue and suspense of his 2018 film “A Simple Favor” than his other films.
Working in his A Simple Favor mode to be R-rated but never grim, Paul shows a command for pacing the entertainment in front of him.
Feig directs the raucous thriller with effortless style, showcasing just how badly behaved and awful the obscenely rich really are in that same heightened reality and sense of pitch black humor that made A Simple Favor such a blast.
At least the first of those films, based on the novel by Darcey Bell, better hides its twists than The Housemaid, which dips into unnerving territory in its second half, but isn’t a smart enough thriller to really pull the rug out from under its audience.
Paul Feig regresa al género con el que tan bien trasteó en Un pequeño favor (no tanto en su secuela)…
The story is, to put it mildly, preposterous right from the start and only becomes more so as it goes on, and so it was clearly a wise idea to put the direction in the hands of Paul Feig, who dealt with similar thematic material in the wildly entertaining A Simple Favor and the more repetitive Another Simple Favor.
…it never leans too much into its nonsense to the point of it being a fault like this year’s Another Simple Favor…
In just this year alone, the director had directed two feature films: Another Simple Favor and now seven months later The Housemaid.
More recent efforts, like Last Christmas, Jackpot!, and Another Simple Favor haven’t quite been the right showcase of his talents, and The Housemaid is another experience where the material itself feels like it spun out of control.
Feig, fresh off the success of Another Simple Favor, attempts to recapture the energy here…
The home’s other employee is monosyllabic groundskeeper Enzo (Michele Morrone, of Netflix’s similarly soapy and successful 365 Days franchise and Feig’s Another Simple Favor) who seems to instantly dislike Millie for unknown reasons that will be conveniently revealed in the film’s third act.
Nina’s vapid housewife friends straight out of something like Bridesmaids…
Paul Feig has a hot and cold streak that has followed his career ever since his breakout with Bridesmaids…
Movies like Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy showcased his comedic talents, but when he ventured into tentpole territory, his Ghostbusters got a bit out of hand.
The director of female-led comedy hits Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy could easily have made that his brand, but the popularity of A Simple Favour and its sequel suggested that he’s angling to be America’s answer to Claude Chabrol.
Director Paul Feig is best known for making comedies like “Bridesmaids,” but “The Housemaid,” despite sharing four letters in the title of his biggest hit, is not a laugh-a-minute.
Paul Feig, director de comedias irreverentes como «Damas en guerra» (2011), «Chicas armadas y peligrosas» (2013), «Spy» (2015) y la versión femenina de «Cazafantasmas» (2016), vuelve al thriller tras «Un pequeño favor» (2018) y su secuela, «Otro pequeño favor» (2025), con la adaptación cinematográfica de «La empleada»…
Sleeping with the Enemy with Julia Roberts…
Along the lines of classic female-centric 90s thrillers like SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY…
For a vibe reading, think: Single White Female; The Hand That Rocks the Cradle; The Crush; Sleeping With the Enemy; Poison Ivy; Body Heat; Fatal Attraction; and so on.
It gets steamy and then, quicker than you can say “Sleeping with the Enemy,” the only thing mounting is the tension.
As for Sklenar, he just might remind you of Patrick Bergin, if you’ve ever seen that actor’s 1991 movie with Julia Roberts.
…y Luz que agoniza (Gaslight, 1944), en los que la cordura parece derrumbarse entre las paredes de una mansión.
“The Housemaid” is like “Gaslight” meets “Jane Eyre,” with a dash of “Rebecca,” and all the various roles are lightly scrambled, infused with a much sexier, nastier streak than any of those mannered mindbenders.
…gleefully gaslighting the title character…
Seyfried juega con esa ambigüedad de forma casi lúdica, evocando cierto cine de suspense clásico donde el exceso emocional era parte del atractivo y no un defecto a corregir.
…mixing plot and character elements from woman-in-peril domestic thrillers like “Gaslight“ and “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle“ with elements of erotic thrillers…
Think back to that classic first film of THE WOMEN, where screen sirens “faced off” to fight for their desires…
For a vibe reading, think: Single White Female; The Hand That Rocks the Cradle; The Crush; Sleeping With the Enemy; Poison Ivy; Body Heat; Fatal Attraction; and so on.
You know the ones, flicks like Basic Instinct (1992), Single White Female (1992), Poison Ivy (1992) and Sliver (1993).
“The Housemaid” marks a devilish return to the decade of erotic psychological thrillers, including “Single White Female,” “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” and “Poison Ivy.”
…while movies like Mortal Thoughts and Poison Ivy occupied the more lurid middle ground…
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This is nothing new – The Housemaid follows in the footsteps of Fifty Shades of Grey and the wildly successful Colleen Hoover-verse (Hooveiverse?) that blew up the internet with the offscreen drama surrounding Justin Baldoni’s adaptation of It Ends With Us earlier this year.
He successfully avoids the “male gaze” that plagued the latter two Fifty Shades of Grey films, where the camera seemed more preoccupied with female nudity than the male “lust object” the fanbase had come to see.
Extraña cruza entre Cincuenta sombras de Grey, Perdida, Atracción fatal y Romper el círculo…
…una transcripción intrascendente y poco inspirada de un ya intrascendente y poco inspirado éxito editorial (como pasó no hace tanto con 50 sombras de Grey)…
All-time great psychological thrillers like Burning, Blow Out, or What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? deliver creative imagery communicating one central idea: anything can happen in this world.
I guess there’s also a pinch of the Davis/Crawford dynamic from WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE…
"The Housemaid" borrows elements from "Jane Eyre," "Gone Girl," "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle," "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?," and any number of early-'80s soap operas to form an immensely enjoyable thriller.