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The Housemaid is a 2025 American erotic psychological thriller film produced and directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Rebecca Sonnenshine,[5][6][7] who adapted the 2022 novel by Freida McFadden.[8] The film stars Sydney Sweeney as a young woman with a troubled past who becomes the live-in housekeeper for a wealthy couple (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar) whose household hides dark secrets. The supporting cast includes Michele Morrone and Elizabeth Perkins.
The Housemaid premiered at the Axa Equitable Center in New York City on December 2, 2025, and was released in the United States by Lionsgate on December 19. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $198 million worldwide against a $35 million budget. A sequel is in development, with Feig, Sweeney and Morrone set to return.
Plot
Millie Calloway becomes the live-in maid of the wealthy Winchester family in Great Neck, Long Island while on parole. Her room is based in the attic with a sealed window, and a door that locks from the outside. Nina, the mother and wife of the family, shows signs of severe mental illness, and repeatedly puts Millie in double bind situations. Millie learns from neighbors that Nina was orphaned by a fire she is suspected of setting, and that years prior, Nina attempted to kill her daughter Cecelia (Cece) by drowning her, and attempted to take her own life by overdosing.
Nina asks Millie to arrange a weekend in the city for Nina and her husband Andrew to see a Broadway musical called Showdown and stay in a hotel. Millie makes the arrangements, only for Nina to deny having asked her to do so, stating the cost will be deducted from her paycheck as a consequence. Nina is occupied that weekend driving Cece to ballet camp in Washington, D.C., so Millie and Andrew secretly agree to attend the show together after Andrew is unable to get the tickets refunded. After enjoying the show, eating out, and checking into the hotel, Millie realizes she has missed many angry texts from Nina, including one firing her. She goes into Andrew's room to show him the texts, he consoles Millie, and initiates sex. After their return home, Nina finds a Playbill from the show, leading to a fight where Andrew demands Nina leave. She does, and Andrew and Millie begin living together as a couple. One morning, Millie is preparing breakfast when she accidentally breaks an heirloom china plate given by Andrew’s mother. Andrew reassures her and mentions that it can be fixed. Millie cleans up the mess and puts all the broken china into a plastic bag. After Andrew returns home, he and Millie go up to her old room in the attic where he locks her inside.
Nina is shown happy to be leaving, and explains her past in a letter to Cece. Early in their relationship, after a minor dispute, Andrew tricked her into entering the attic storage room (later Millie's room) before locking her inside. Andrew demanded that, before he free her, Nina pull one hundred strands of hair out of her scalp, follicles still attached. He then leaves her with only three small bottles of water. After she did as instructed, Andrew demanded she do it again, claiming one lacked the follicle. When he finally let her go, he brought her a small bottle of water which she drank immediately before running to see Cece. Nina then realizes that the water was drugged and passes out, whereupon Andrew staged events to appear as if Nina attempted to kill Cece and then herself. Nina was subsequently sent to a psychiatric hospital and was kept there until she falsely confessed. Groundskeeper Enzo realized what had happened and tried to get Nina out, but was foiled by Andrew. Nina intentionally hired Millie knowing that Andrew would romantically pursue her and leave Nina for her, believing Millie—having been charged with murder (though only convicted of manslaughter)—capable of protecting herself against him.
Back in the present, Andrew tells Millie she is being punished for having broken the china and storing the broken pieces unwashed. He gives her a piece of broken china and demands she deeply cut her stomach 21 times (matching the number of shards) before he will free her. After she does, Andrew enters the room to let her out, but Millie stabs him in the neck with a cheese knife Nina stashed there for herself. After a struggle, she locks him in the room, forcing him to rip out one of his teeth with pliers while she breaks more of the china.
Meanwhile, Nina is preparing to leave for good, but returns to the house on Cece's suggestion to rescue Millie. Seeing the light on in the attic and assuming Millie is locked inside, she sneaks in and unlocks the door before Millie can stop her. Andrew attacks her and Millie, but Millie seems to escape. After Nina refuses to resume her life with Andrew, he attempts to kill her, before Millie reappears and pushes him over the edge of a spiral staircase, killing him. Nina drops a light bulb which shatters next to him to make it appear he was trying to fix the chandelier light and stages an accidental death with Enzo's help.
Investigating the incident, policewoman Jessica Connors notices inconsistencies in Nina's story, but knowing what happened to Andrew's first fiancée, being her sister, she does not investigate further. After Andrew's funeral, Millie returns, and Nina gives her a check worth one hundred thousand dollars to help her start a new life. Millie later attends another housemaid interview with Lisa Killefer. Lisa says she was recommended to her by Nina, and indicates that her husband is abusing her. Millie replies by asking when she can start working.
Cast
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- Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway, a housemaid with a criminal record
- Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester, a wealthy woman who hires Millie
- Brandon Sklenar as Andrew Winchester, Nina's husband
- Michele Morrone as Enzo Accardi, an Italian groundskeeper
- Elizabeth Perkins as Evelyn Winchester, Andrew's mother[9]
- Indiana Elle as Cecelia "Cece" Winchester, Nina and Andrew's daughter
- Megan Ferguson as Jilianne, a local housewife
- Ellen Tamaki as Patrice, a local housewife
- Amanda Joy Erickson as Suzanne, a local housewife
- Ellen Adair as Lisa Killefer, a wealthy woman who interviews Millie in the epilogue
- Alaina Surgener as Amanda, a local housemaid
- Mark Grossman as Scott Crawford, Millie's first boyfriend
- Hannah Cruz as Lexi, Millie's friend
- Alexandra Seal as Jessica Connors, a policewoman
- Don DiPetta as Officer Jenkins
- Brian D. Cohen as Det. Smythe
- Lamar Baucom-Slaughter as Officer Stanley
Production
The film is directed by Paul Feig and produced by Feig, Todd Lieberman, and Laura Fischer for Hidden Pictures. Sonnenshine's screenplay is based on the 2022 novel of the same name by Freida McFadden. In October 2024, Sweeney and Seyfried joined as leading actresses and executive producers alongside McFadden and Alex Young.[10][11] Brandon Sklenar joined the cast that month, followed by Michele Morrone in December 2024.[11][12] Elizabeth Perkins was also cast in the film.[9]
Filming
Principal photography began on January 3, 2025, in New Jersey[13][14] and wrapped in March 2025.[15]
Music
Theodore Shapiro composed the film's score, marking his eighth collaboration with Feig.[16]
Release
The Housemaid was released in the United States on December 19, 2025.[9]
Reception
Box office
As of January 16, 2026, The Housemaid has grossed $101 million in the United States and Canada, and $98 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $198 million.[4][3]
In the United States and Canada, The Housemaid was released alongside Avatar: Fire and Ash, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, and David, and was projected to gross $20–25 million from 3,015 theaters.[2] The film made $8 million on its first day, including $2.3 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $19 million, finishing in third behind Fire and Ash and David.[17]
Critical response
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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 186 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A sly throwback to the lurid thrillers that used to dominate multiplexes, The Housemaid cleans up nicely thanks to its wicked sense of fun and a delightfully unnerving performance from Amanda Seyfried."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 84% overall positive score, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[17]
TheWrap's William Bibbiani gave the film a positive review and wrote, "The Housemaid has its twists, and you'll probably see some of them coming a mile off, even if you don't know exactly how the secrets will be revealed or what form the danger will take. On more than one occasion, the twist is that The Housemaid is even weirder and funnier than you expect — and that's a welcome surprise."[20] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave a four stars rating out of five for the film, stating, "This is a full-tilt throwback to "erotic thriller" tropes from the 1990s."[7] Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The Housemaid is a delightful hall of mirrors in which reality turns out to be subject to infinite modification."[21] Marta Medina del Valle of El Confidencial rated the "post-postmodern artifact" 4 out of 5 stars, declaring it the "best worst movie" of recent times.[22]
In a negative review for Slant Magazine, Anzhe Zhang wrote, "The Housemaid's twist is a doozy, but it falls just short of being a deconstruction of tradwife values."[23]
Accolades
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astra Film Awards | January 9, 2026 | Best Book to Screen Adaptation | The Housemaid | Won | [24] |
| Columbus Film Critics Association | January 8, 2026 | Actor of the Year[a] | Amanda Seyfried | Nominated | [25] |
| Hawaii Film Critics Society | January 12, 2026 | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | [26] | |
| Michigan Movie Critics Guild | December 8, 2025 | The MMCG Award for Film Excellence | Paul Feig[b] | Nominated | [27] |
| New Jersey Film Critics Circle | December 31, 2025 | Best New Jersey Representation | The Housemaid | Nominated | [28] |
Sequel
In January 2026, Lionsgate announced that a sequel had been greenlit, with Feig, Sweeney and Morrone returning. The sequel is set to be an adaptation of The Housemaid's Secret, the second book in The Housemaid series by Freida McFadden.[29][30][31]
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