THE HOUSEMAID
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Indiana Elle, Michele Morrone, and Elizabeth Perkins
Director: Paul Feig
NICK
Regardless of your thoughts on his films, Paul Feig always aims for you to have fun with them. With The Housemaid, he forgot about that entirely. Led by a Sydney Sweeney performance that will make her detractors salivate, this is a complete misfire. Beyond Sweeney's poor outing, though, the film is filled with inconsistencies in both plot and tone, feels relatively devoid of intentional humour (unintentional is a different story), and is far too long. Had Feig infused camp and laughs into this outlandish plot, there may have been something to salvage here, but as is, he’s made one of the worst films of 2025.
AMARÚ
The Housemaid is a 25-minute cut away from being the biggest surprise of the year. Excellent performances from Brandon Sklenar and Amanda Seyfried help deliver on the scandalous mess that Paul Feig (sometimes) knows how to entertainingly direct. The story, twists, and reveals are a fun time to unveil, but its execution, especially its polarizing pacing, has you wishing for more time to breathe one second, and asking, “Why is this movie still going?” the other. A rushed introduction of stakes, dragged-out resolutions, and misuse of narration (both in delivery and timeliness) inhibit a much better movie from revealing itself.
ADRIANO
At the final stretch of 2025, The Housemaid comes one somewhat interesting plot twist away from topping The Electric State as the year's worst film. At the risk of sounding dramatic, just about everything about this movie doesn't work. The tone is all over the place, going from psychological terror to YA romance in the blink of an eye, the dialogue is atrocious; that interesting plot twist I referred to was underbaked, and Sydney Sweeney gives a fittingly terrible performance for the terrible year she's had. Sure, Amanda Seyfried's fine, but she can't do anything to elevate this laughable monstrosity.
BODE
When Paul Feig took a tawdry turn with 2018’s A Simple Favor, it felt like a needed breath of fresh air for the filmmaker after stumbling years prior with his Ghostbusters reboot. But he’s struggled to match the darkly comedic highs of that film since, first with Another Simple Favor, and now with The Housemaid. Although there’s some entertainment to be found (largely thanks to Amanda Seyfried’s keyed-in performance), it takes far too long to lean into all sense of bad taste, and isn’t fun or trashy enough to make a lasting impression even when it does. Fairly disappointing.
