Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) just received early release from prison after spending the past 10 years behind bars. She is eager to escape her past, turn her life around, and stop living in her car. Her interview for a live-in housemaid position with Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) goes really well. Millie worries that Nina will discover that she lied on her resume, and that she won’t get the job. However, she is pleasantly surprised when she receives a call from Nina offering her the position, which involves organizing, cleaning, light cooking, and helping with Nina’s 7-year-old daughter Cece (Indiana Elle).

Millie’s first impressions are great—Nina is an incredibly nice and welcoming person, and her home, which was designed by her husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), is spacious and beautiful. She even has her own cozy bedroom in the attic. However, the next morning, something seems to have flipped. Millie wakes up to find Nina trashing the kitchen, smashing dishes, and screaming about how Millie lost her notes for her PTA meeting. It takes Andrew to calm the situation down, and afterwards he privately apologizes to Millie for his wife. Over the next few weeks, Nina’s behavior continues to be be erratic and unpredictable. She regularly goes from normal and supportive to crazy, unreasonable and passive-aggressive. At times it seems like Nina is purposely setting Millie up to fail, or take the blame for something so that she can chastise her. Millie would quit, but she needs this job to keep from being sent back to prison. However, Nina’s horrible treatment of her, also seems to be driving her towards Nina’s husband Andrew, who constantly needs to step in to play referee and to console and assure Millie that everything is going to be okay. While Andrew and Millie are obviously starting to have feelings for one another, Millie definitely doesn’t want to act on them as she needs this job, and if Nina found out, it would only make her situation worse. But all may not be as it seems in the Winchester house, and as more secrets come to light, Millie starts questioning everything she believed about this family.

The Housemaid is based on Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel of the same name. It is a modern gothic thriller that takes many surprising and unexpected twists and turns, keeping the audience guessing until the end. In addition to the drama, there are also many darkly comedic aspects to the story. In the bonus material, director Paul Feig repeatedly describes the film as a “Nancy Meyers movie gone horribly wrong”, and that is a perfect description. There are several times where the relationships between the characters appear to be headed into your typical happy, Hollywood direction, only to go a drastically different way. Feig is a perfect fit for this material, as his two A Simple Favor films have a very similar tone. I have not read the original book, but I know there were some changes made from the original story as the novel is told in two halves, first from Millie’s perspective and then from Nina’s, which doesn’t really work as well for a movie. But it sounds like the major plot points from the book are still the same, with some more-theatrical changes to the way they are executed.

I quite enjoyed this movie, especially not knowing where it was headed the first time through. However, it also works just as well even when you re-watch knowing the twists that are to come. There are tiny hints strewn throughout the film, but things are not overly telegraphed. The tone of the film is this prefect blend of drama, thriller, romance and humor. Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried are great, and play off one another perfectly. Seyfried is especially impressive in the way she is able to play two different sides to Nina. As the film progresses, the audience is taken on rollercoaster ride. At first we fall in love with Nina, thinking she’s going to be the greatest boss ever for Millie. But then she turns into this crazy nightmare of a manipulative boss. Because of this the audience starts to root for something to happen between Millie and Andrew. Andrew is this seemingly loving and caring guy, and both he and Millie deserve better than Nina. But there still seems to be something sketchy happening in this beautiful house. Like why is the groundskeeper Enzo (Michele Morrone) constantly watching Millie? There are so many fun, soapy twists and turns, and all of the actors do a great job playing these different sides to their characters.

Lionsgate has released The Housemaid on Limited Edition Amazon-Exclusive 4K Digipack, as well as general 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital releases. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review. It features a clean, clear picture with a solid level of detail throughout. The Atmos audio track provides clear dialogue as well as a generally-immersive ambiance. The Blu-ray release comes with a single disc, packed in a standard HD keepcase along with a cardboard slipcover and an insert with instructions on how to redeem a digital copy of the movie. The disc contains two audio commentary tracks, as well as over 45 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and 8 minutes of deleted scenes. There are also a digital retailer exclusive featurette on Fandango At Home. I’m not sure if iTunes also offers its own exclusive digital bonus feature (this seems to be common practice on recent Lionsgate releases). Currently the digital copy only offers redemption at Fandango At Home, but sometimes this is modified on/just after the disc release date, so we have held off redeeming to see if iTunes is added as an option (we will update this review if that is the case).

What’s Included:

Film: (2:11:21)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital:

• Digital Copy redeemable via Fandango at Home. This is not Movies Anywhere compatible.
• Code subject to expiration, may not be valid after 3/17/2027

Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Feig (2:11:21)
  Director/producer Paul Feig provides an entertaining and informative commentary throughout the film, sharing lots of behind-the-scenes details and stories about the production.
• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Feig And Creative Team (2:11:21)
  For this second commentary track, director Paul Feig is joined by producer Laura Fischer, executive producer Carly Elter, producer Todd Lieberman, director of photography John Schwartzman, composer Theodore Shapiro, editor Brent White, casting director Allison Jones, and via Zoom, writer Rebecca Sonnenshine, production designer Elizabeth Jones & costume designer Renée Ehrlich Kalfus. The participants talk about how the production came together, adapting the novel, finding the house, and more. It is more of a flowing conversation about the film/production as a whole, from many different viewpoints, rather than scene-by-scene discussions. Feig has known a lot of this crew for many years, so he does a nice job of moderating the discussion. Occasionally there’s people talking over one another, or an abrupt interruption to talk about something that has appeared on screen, and some of the stories are repetitive to the Making Of featurette, but overall it’s a nice, informative commentary track.
• From Page To Panic: Making The Housemaid (35:32)
  Extensive behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and filmmakers. The participants discuss the inspiration for the original novel, adapting the book for the film, casting the movie, the different sides of the characters, the costumes, the look of the house, creating the dollhouse, the artwork, building the attic set, the effects and stunts, working with the director, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with book author/executive producer Freida McFadden, executive producer Carly Kleinbart Elter, producer Todd Lieberman, writer Rebecca Sonnenshine, director/producer Paul Feig, producer Laura Fischer, costume designer Renée Ehrlich Kalfus, location manager Justin Kron, production designer Elizabeth Jones, set decorator Paige Mitchell, SPFX technicians Ben Riedman & Kyle McCarthy, stunt coordinator Steepen Pope, and stars Sydney Sweeney (“Millie Calloway”/executive producer), Amanda Seyfried (“Nina Winchester”/executive producer), Brandon Sklenar (“Andrew Winchester”), Michele Morrone (“Enzo”) & Indiana Elle (“Cece Winchester”).
• Secrets Of The Winchester House: A Housemaid Tour (11:38)
  Set Decorator Paige Mitchell and Production Designer Elizabeth Jones give viewers a tour of the Winchester house, and discuss how the design and style help enhance and inform the story.
• A Peek Inside (2:06)
  Short promotional featurette with the cast and filmmakers describing the premise of the film. Includes interviews with director/producer Paul Feig, author/executive producer Freida McFadden, and stars Sydney Sweeney, Brandon Sklenar, Amanda Seyfried & Michele Morrone.
• Deleted Scenes (8:17)
  Collection of 7 deleted scenes play back-to-back:
  • “The Tooth” – the cops find a tooth on the staircase.
  • “Lexi Grocery” – Millie runs into old friend Lexi at the grocery store and they catch up over a drink.
  • “Laundry” – Andrew helps Millie separate the laundry.
  • “PTA Meeting” – Nina informs Millie that she needs to clean, bake and set up for the PTA lunch.
  • “This Ends Right Now” – Millie and Andrew kiss in the car.
  • “Poptart in Bed” – Andrew delivers breakfast in bed to Millie.
  • “Enzo is Watching” – Millie meets with Enzo in the cemetery.
• Theatrical Trailers (4:05)
  Two trailers play back-to-back
• Pushing It Over The Edge: Creating The Stunts*
  Fandango At Home exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette. Available when digital copy is redeemed at Fandango.