The Housemaid - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Housemaid



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Ah, yes, Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, two of the last 25 years' hottest girls, who each played similar roles when they were in their 20s. Basically, Amanda was the early 2000s Sydney Sweeney, in that they were both blondish bombshells playing the slightly dopey “hot girl” roles, and kind of made their careers on it. Amanda has long since faded from the spotlight, but she also fine-tuned her acting skills and has done a great job of separating herself from the “is my chest too big? *pout” roles of her youth, and aims for darker and creepier content with her more mature roles. Sydney, on the other hand, is eating up her youth and seems to be dabbling with both roles in her early years, rather than being typecast like Amanda was to a certain extent. But hey, what’s better than seeing Amanda or Sydney in a modern version of one of those 90s Michael Douglas erotic thrillers? Having Amanda AND Sydney in one of them.

Millie (Sydney Sweeney) is an ex-con who came out of prison recently and is trying to get her life in order. As a last-ditch Hail Mary, Millie applies for a job as a live-in housemaid for a super-rich couple living outside of New York proper. For some strange reason, the wife, Nina (Amanda Seyfried), glosses over doing a proper background check (hint, hint) and hires Millie on the spot. So now Millie gets a live-in room, a cushy job working for people who have LOTS of money, and a brand new phone to get her started.

But it’s not even 24 hours before Millie learns that something is “off” in the wealthy world of her new employers. Nina starts melting down at the slightest provocation, and soon Millie becomes the target of her insane jealousy and mental instabilities. But things start to heat up when Nina’s husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar, Drop) admits his frustration with his wife, ultimately leading to the inevitable “oops, it just HAPPENED” moment that you all knew was coming. And this is where the film veers off on a sharply different direction. I won’t spoil it, but needless to say, Millie finds out that Nina and her craziness were the least of her problems, and the film becomes gonzo bonkers in the final half as it careens towards a Gone Girl style of ending.

I’ve seen other people online compare The Housemaid to both The Prestige and Gone Girl, and I sort of see the comparisons. Especially with Gone Girl. There’s an attempt to snow the viewer with a Prestige-like misdirection in the second half, but I personally feel that some of the clues were a bit too obvious to live up to the Prestige’s clever twists. I get the comparisons. There are many more similarities with Gone Girl in here, including the affairs, the different personalities of Nina (which are mostly explained in a flashback “dump” rather than built into the narrative), than anything. The film itself is solid enough, and while it’s not amazing, I had a fun time with this sleazy modern take on the 90s Michael Douglas thrillers that we all grew up with.




Rated R for strong/bloody violent content, sexual assault, sexual content, nudity, and language.




Video:

The 2.39:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray looks great, though, with a glossy digital look that shows little, if any, flaws in it. IMDB advertises that it was shot with the Sony Venice 2 cameras and then transferred to a 4K digital intermediate for the home video release. Which, naturally, was downscaled here to 1080p. This is a sharp and crisp-looking image, with a warm look that lends itself to bright whites (which Amanda wears nearly exclusively) and rich, golden, and mahogany tones for the upscale home itself. Fine details are exemplary all the way around, showing every line, every crease, and every shaving mark on a character’s body and clothing. Black levels are sickeningly deep and inky, without any signs of crush, banding, or other irritating artifacts.








Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is one of the less dynamic mixes, but it doesn’t do anything wrong, per se. Rather, it's a more subtle film that uses ambiance and a few stand-out sequences to really fill it out. Dialogue is well placed in the center of the room, and the bass has some nice punch to it when called upon. Those moments are few and far between, as the LFE is mainly a supporting instrument for the score, or a few crashes. But there are a few standout moments in the first half, and several in the second half (such as Amanda Seyfried’s car slamming through) that really lift you out of your seat with the power. Overheads and surroundings get a moderate workout in the front half of the film, but once the craziness of the second half gears up, things get a lot wilder. Maybe not a full-blown action track, wild, but still more than surprising considering the tame nature of the first hour.










Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Feig
• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Feig and Creative Team
• From Page to Panic: Making The Housemaid
• Secrets of the Winchester House: A Housemaid Tour
• “A Peek Inside” Featurette
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

The Housemaid is unabashedly pulpy, gooey, slightly bonkers with the violence at the end, and really feels like a throwback to those sleazy 90s Michael Douglas thrillers. Not going to lie here, I was initially getting really bored with the predictable nature of the 1st half of the film, but once the 2nd half kicks off, it gets a LOT more gonzo. It’s in no way a good film, but it is one of those guiltily satisfying flicks that you watch and don’t tell your cinephile friends that you did. But hey, different strokes for different folks. The Blu-ray looks and sounds killer (haha, yes, that pun was on purpose), and there’s a solid array of extras included as well. Fun romp will be my final recommendation.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar
Directed by: Paul Feig
Written by: Rebecca Sonnenshine, Freida McFadden
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Spanish, French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 131 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 17th, 2026

Recommendation: Decent Watch