The Housemaid, by Freida McFadden, has recently been adapted into a movie by director Paul Feig. The movie is rated R and has been quite popular for only being released on December 19, 2025. Many are pleasantly shocked by the outcome and are happy the movie was close to as good as the book and kept many of the same details. Although, there are some controversies about characters, slight differences to the book, and the overall rating of the movie.

There is a strong majority who fell in love with this movie. As someone who has recently watched the movie, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, waiting for something unexpected to happen. The theater was filled with tension in the best way. The cast completely embodied the characters and had the perfect amount of creepiness. Also, as everyone has said, the plot twist completely caught me off guard and made the move that much better.

Senior Ada Rankin has also seen it and agrees with my review, saying how interesting the movie was. She notes, “I was upset with myself for not figuring out the plot twists but loved how the ending came together and how everything tied itself together.” Ada went in depth about specific details, yet since I believe this move was incredible, I don’t want any spoilers for those I hope to convince to watch the movie. 

Senior Ella O’Neill watched the movie after reading the book, and even though she noted some changes and knew the plot twist coming into it, she loved the movie and how good the acting was. She exclaims, “I thought that it was an enjoyable watch and was surprised with how many details I could remember.”

On the controversial side, those that had comments and critiques were mostly the minority who read the book before watching the movie. Many were upset that some of the settings or characters did not match those in the book. The book has the wife, Nina, losing track of herself and her weight, yet they casted someone “too perfect” for the movie. Some also thought that the setting of the attic, a very crucial area in the movie and book, was not “creepy” enough and looked like a normal room. Lastly, many were upset by the final scene with the husband’s mother, Evelyn Winchester, and Andrew Winchester’s wife Nina Winchester, because it did not have as much of a shocking effect as it did in the book.

There were many more slight differences from the book and movie, like the overall change in ending of the book, yet too many details would be spoilers. Overall, with any movie that is attempting to recreate a masterpiece of a book, it will never fully live up to expectations, but it is still important to understand the differences.  

Character-wise, some were extremely happy with the cast, and others simply did not like the actors to begin with. Many thought that Amanda Seyfried did an impeccable job at Nina, and had the perfect amount of psycho. Personally, I was terrified of Nina the entire movie and thought her acting was oscar-worthy. Although some viewers, as previously mentioned, believed Amanda was not a good cast because she did not resemble the book character, yet it was nothing against her acting.

Looking at Sydney Sweeney, some thought she did very well as Millie Calloway, and was the perfect addition, while others could not put their bias aside and did not like Sydeny Sweeney in the movie because they simply do not like her as an actor. 

Most everyone had no thoughts for Brandon Sklenar as Andrew Winchester, and thought he was the perfect husband, with the looks to complete the cast. Some thought he was not dark enough or didn’t have much mystery surrounding him, but that was a small critique where most thought he was perfect.

In regards to Michele Morrone as Enzo Accardi, some were upset he did not have a bigger role in the movie because he is much more present in the book, yet believed he was a good cast and did not have many notes on his character.

Overall, this movie is purely opinion-based with generally positive but mixed reviews. Some believed it was not a good match to the book and others thought it was an enjoyable tension filled watch. It was scary, thrilling, shocking, and surprisingly funny, and had a unique plot. 

Whether to watch the book before or after the movie remains debated, yet I read the book after the movie and am glad for that choice. For now it has a rating of 7/10 with three and a half stars according to IMDb, around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 92% on Certified Fresh.