FILM REVIEW - The Housemaid

By The Masked Medic

Having another person to sit and watch movies with often means that you expand beyond the normal horizons, and this morning, my wife decided that she wanted to watch this film with me. I’m never one to turn a film down… unless it’s to do with those stupid “Minions”, so I was game. This was a film that I had heard about, but to be honest, there was only one reason I had any interest in watching it!

‘The Housemaid’ tells the story of Millie Calloway, a young woman who is looking for a fresh start and a job. She attends an interview to be a live-in housemaid for Nina Winchester, a rich woman, who is keen to get some help around the house. Millie also meets Nina’s daughter, Cece, and her husband, Andrew. At first, it seems like the perfect job, and given Millie’s desire to make some money and have some stability, she wants to make a good impression. But soon the cracks begin to appear, and Millie finds that Nina is not who she appeared to be when they first met. Repeated actions by Nina make Millie look back, and then she has to deal with the constant mental breakdowns that Nina experiences. Millie soon finds out from people who know the Winchesters that Nina had gone through some trauma and had done a lot of pretty intense things. Millie’s only defence is Andrew, who tries to do his best to satiate his wife and tries to offset the antagonism that Nina feels for their new housemaid. As the pressure builds, Millie realizes that she has to do something to stop the abuse. Can she figure out who to trust to help her get out of this situation? And who else is hiding a secret of their own?

This was a pretty small cast, which hopefully should make it easier to review. Let’s start with our protagonist, Millie, played by Sydney Sweeney. I’m not oblivious to the memes, and I see why she has gained popularity, but my honest opinion of her before watching this was that I didn’t particularly think she could act. After watching this, I think she can act. I’m not convinced that she can act very well, though. Playing Andrew is Brandon Skelnar. Now, I had never heard of this guy before last year, I think he’s fairly new on the scene. However, everywhere I look, people are fan-casting him as Batman in the DCU. This was the only reason I actually wanted to watch this film. The guy has some decent range, and again, he’s not a bad actor. Perhaps I could see him as Batman, but I’m still holding on to hope that it will be Theo James. Ha! The two minor roles of Cece and Enzo, the Winchesters’ gardener, were played by Indiana Elle and Michele Morrone. Both were good additions to the cast. Let’s talk standout performance. Nina Winchester is played by Amanda Seyfried, whom, up until today, I have just known from the ‘Mamma Mia’ films. She generally gives off a happy-go-lucky vibe, but in this film, I actually saw a performance that I did not know she was capable of. Kudos to her!

I mean, this film was a fairly average watch. There were parts of it that had me hooked, and the tension was high, and then other parts where I was like hmmm, this could have used more. It’s not exactly what you want from a thriller, is it? Now, this very rarely happens, but I saw the twist in the film from the very get-go. It was slightly clear what the film was trying to achieve, and there were certainly some smoke and mirrors, but it wasn’t enough to make it predictable. This all sounds really bad, and I guess I have to balance that out. It wasn’t the worst thing I’d seen, and the really shocking bits did genuinely surprise me. A slightly better script and I think I’d have enjoyed it more!

Apparently, the film had a budget of $35 million, which I think is pretty believable. It then went on to make $360 million. Damn. It did very well then. The director Paul Feig has directed some very enjoyable films, including ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘Spy’, and ‘Last Christmas’. This felt pretty different in genre from those, and I’d say, despite my criticisms, I have to give him credit for trying something different and financially succeeding. The music was pretty apt. Overall, not a terrible watch, but not something I’d be recommending to others!

Rating:

• Story: ★★½

• Acting: ★★★

• Cinematography: ★★½

• Music: ★★★

• Enjoyability: ★★★