The Housemaid (2025)

Paul Feig is a kind of hero of mine. He co-created the great Freaks and Geeks, and he wrote and directed some of the episodes. His autobiographical books, Kick Me and Superstud, are equally hysterically funny and hideously cringey. Go way back in his filmography and you'll see he had acting roles in Zombie High and Three O'Clock High.

As for Feig's directorial career, well, Bridesmaids had some moments. I passed on his Ghostbusters, not because they were women, but because it looked like a pile of ectoplasmic crap. He went on to high profile productions, but a little bit of Melissa McCarthy goes a long way with me. I wrote him off as another show-biz kid who started off wonderfully, but got sucked into the Hollywood shit factory mass production grind.

I was slightly interested in seeing The Housemaid. If you have any interest at all in books, you can't avoid seeing Freida McFadden everywhere. I saw that Paul Feig got the plum assignment of directing the Housemaid novel. Good for him.

I've been enjoying the movies, so I figured, why not? The Housemaid would be a professionally-made film, at the very least.

And it is. The Housemaid is very well shot and edited. The performers are all on point, especially Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney. I was unfamiliar with Brandon Sklenar, even though I know he played Robert Mapplethorpe in a biopic. Sklenar is also damned good, and he shows a nice range that brought early Alec Baldwin to mind. I'm thinking of when Baldwin was actually good, like in Miami Blues.

It was nice to see Elizabeth Perkins in a small but pivotal role, but I didn't recognize her. Her face rang a bell and a light went off when I saw her name in the end credits.

So, yes, the theater was fairly full and people were respectful. There was an occasional gasp or a light "Oh shit!" that didn't bother me. I was thoroughly enjoying The Housemaid. To a point.

These modern thriller writers are far more concerned with mind-blowing twists than credibility or logic. I honestly saw what was coming from the start, but that didn't bother me.

Oh no, one twist isn't enough.

The story grew more cliched and silly, then downright unbelievable. Near the end we get a howler of a coincidence that defies any reasonable suspension of disbelief. I couldn't believe it. That still wasn't enough.

There's an utterly preposterous denouement that is a grossly obvious setup for future books and movies. Forget suspending belief. Mine was out in the parking lot waiting for me to get out of there.

I don't regret seeing The Housemaid, but I wish writers, and audiences, would figure out that less is so often more. Strangling a story with implausibilities ruins it for those of us who are still capable of thinking.

Written by Mark Sieber