Millie Calloway (played by Sydney Sweeney) is a desperate young woman. She has served ten years of a fifteen year sentence for homicide. She is on parole and must maintain employment. And she stumbles on what she believes is a dream job.
This is the backdrop to “The Housemaid,” directed by Paul Feig and based on the 2022 book by Freida McFadden.
Nina Winchester (played by Amanda Seyfried) is a wealthy suburban housewife. She interviews Millie in-person for an in-home position as a housekeeper and cook. The home is actually a mansion presided over by Millie’s husband, Andrew Winchester (played by Brandon Sklenar), who seems a sympathetic character through the first half of the movie.
Though Nina is at first hospitable to Millie, she becomes abusive. She makes false accusations against Millie and throws violent tantrums. Andrew shows pity for Millie. And Millie can’t help falling in love with Andrew, whose wealth and good looks she finds irresistible. When Nina goes out of town for a week after dropping her daughter, Cecelia (played by Indiana Elle) at camp, the inevitable happens: First, Andrew takes Millie to a show in the city, then dinner, then a night in a hotel.
Andrew takes Millie back to his home. Though the two agree that their affair must remain a one time fling, they continue to make love in Nina’s absence. But soon Nina returns and she’s smart enough to know Millie has slept with her husband. Nina throws a characteristic tantrum and Andrew demands that she leave the home.
Just a bit of background to the marriage between Andrew and Nina: Cecelia isn’t Andrew’s biological daughter and the home is the sole property of Andrew (who has an airtight prenuptial agreement that Millie is to get nothing in the event of separation). Nina doesn’t allow Andrew to legally adopt Cecelia because early in their marriage she realizes Andrew is a monster in private. He is worse than abusive, as he locks her in the attic of the home to discipline her.
With Nina out of the picture, Millie believes she is in a fairy tale relationship with Andrew. He’s wealthy and extremely handsome. And he even forgives Millie for hiding the fact that she has been to prison and is on parole. But the real and monstrous Andrew soon emerges, as he subjects Millie to the same abuse he had inflicted on Nina, locking her in the attic and even resorting to sickening torture. The spoiler alert is just when you think the movie has reached a happy ending, the feel-good aspect morphs into a nightmare.
The movie stays consistent with the book’s storyline, except that it’s summertime in the book when Millie arrives at the Winchester home and it’s winter in the movie. Like the book, the movie induces discomfort, though it’s even uglier than the book. One has to be a fan of the psycho-thriller to appreciate “The Housemaid.”
Andrew is a true sociopath. What makes it worse is that he’s highly intelligent. During his marriage to Nina, he is able to convince the police and neighbors that she is unstable and her complaints of abuse are delusional. He even convinces a psychiatrist of this lie. Nina’s PTA associates comment behind her back that Andrew is saintly and that she doesn’t deserve him. It’s a classic case of dramatic irony, as the movie viewer knows what the characters have yet to learn.
There is a portion of the book in which Nina is made to believe she has only imagined Andrew’s abuse. This aspect of the book is not included in the movie. It becomes clear that Nina has only recruited Millie to take her place in receiving abuse. Millie is careful to hire Millie, who has the necessary sex appeal to entice Andrew to set his sadistic sights on her. Nina also is revealed to have run a background check on Millie, learning about the latter’s prison years and parole status. As a deliberate result, Millie is unable to quit her job and leave behind the semblance of Nina’s terror.
“The Housemaid” is not my favorite type of movie (or book). But it’s not the reviewer’s job to contain treatment only to desirable stories. Indeed, even moviegoers should attempt to subject themselves to movies they find difficult. It’s a matter of experiencing the full cinema experience. And one observation must be made in favor of The Housemaid: It’s very much an experience.
