I just recently read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden for the first time a couple of months ago in anticipation for this movie. I knew I wanted to do a book vs. movie breakdown (which will be posted later), and I wanted the book to be fresh in my mind. So, with all that being said, what did I end up thinking about the movie? The characters, the adaptation itself, and the creepy music.

I absolutely LOVED Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney. Nina and Millie as characters were perfectly encapsulated by these two women. They were both magnetic onscreen. The last time I watched Brandon Sklenar in a movie was for It Ends With Us (2024) as Atlas, a literal angel of a man. So, seeing him in this movie was really cool because his acting for a thriller changed a lot from his acting for a romance (still super good, though). I think the acting overall in this whole movie was AMAZING, but I wish we could have seen more of Enzo (Michele Morrone) because he played a much larger role in the book than he did in the movie. 

With the adaptation itself, I think they did a great job for the movie and putting what they could from the book. The only thing I really didn’t like was I felt that the movie was way too obvious (but that could be because I read the book and just noticed all the cues). There were things in the plot that honestly just didn’t make sense to me and made WAY more sense in the book. I’ll mention those in the spoilers, but overall it was definitely a good watch. 

So last thing I want to talk about is the music. Phew, the composer for this? (It’s Theodore Shapiro, by the way). He did an amazing job with making the music fit the scene and vibes of the movie. I honestly got so tensed up just because of the music at times. 

There was only one thing that I seriously disliked about the movie, but I’m not even sure I can hold it against the movie itself. That would be the predictability. Like I mentioned earlier, this could be because I read the book, but it felt like the cues were slaps in the face at times. But again, I can’t really take anything off for this because I already knew exactly what was coming, so that’s not fair of me to put on the director and the writers. 

Spoilers ahead.

Okay, so a few things that didn’t make sense to me. One was that Nina in the movie was a little… too much? I know that’s hard to think about because she’s honestly crazy the whole time, but in the book I don’t remember her actually saying “Millie, you’re fired” because that would jeopardize her plan. It seemed off to me. The other thing was Andrew telling Millie to cut herself when he locked her in the attic room. The Andrew from the book didn’t really do permanent damage from what I remember because he wanted “perfection”. All those cuts in Millie’s abdomen? That would scar. That would leave marks on her flawless skin that don’t disappear. She wouldn’t be able to wear a two piece swimsuit. It felt out of character given what Nina said about his punishments in the book. 

Overall, I really did enjoy this adaptation and think it’s a wonderful psychological thriller if you’re looking for something to keep you on the edge of your seat. Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried were so great in this movie and honestly made the whole thing as great as it is. Even if you don’t like one of them as people, their acting in this movie was spot on. And if you loved the book, you really won’t be disappointed in the movie because it was a really great adaptation!

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