rg9400 reviewedFebruary 4, 2026 The Housemaid is actually a pretty fun and entertaining movie. It's not going to be winning any awards, but it fully recognizes what it is and leans into its strengths. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and to be honest, there are multiple movies and shows from this year that probably fall within a similar genre. Off the top of my head, I can think of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Sirens, and Bone Lake, and there might be even more. I didn't particularly like any of those, but I did like the Housemaid. For one thing, I thought I knew where the movie was going, and it actually managed to surprise me. In fairness, that is not to say it isn't predictable, just that my predictions were wrong in a good way. You do need to turn your brain off and suspend a lot of disbelief, but that's fine. The other is Amanda Seyfried. She understood the assignment and ran with it. She commits to the bit and is so entertainingly campy that I could not take my eyes off her. Diet Chris Evans fills the role. Sydney Sweeney... Look, she has a lot of offscreen drama surrounding her. Regardless of any of that, I think she's the weakest link in this movie. She flaunts her body a lot in this movie. Otherwise, she often looks like a deer in headlights. This movie is so campy and pulpy that I wish she played off Seyfried more and really let go instead of trying to be naturalistic in her acting. I don't think she's bad by any means, but she should have matched Seyfried's energy. I also think that the second half is where the fun is, and it takes a bit too long to arrive. I think the movie could have easily cut 20 minutes off the first half without losing anything. All of that said, I was still entertained in a way that a lot of similar movies have failed to do. It never reaches the heights of Gone Girl which I feel is the apex of this style of movie. However, it did make the time fly by, kept me engaged, and did in fact elicit more than one laugh, especially in that ridiculous second half.
