"The Housemaid is Paul Feig's delicious, satirical look at the secret depravity of the ultra-rich, but it's so well constructed that's it's not clear who's naughty or nice. Halfway through, the movie zigs and everything you expected zags. It's almost impossible to thread the line between self-winking camp That's a lot of bacon. Are you trying to kill us? and carving someone's stomach with a broken piece of fine china, yet Feig and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine do."
"Her resume is fraudulent, as are her references. Somehow, the madam of the mansion, Nina Winchester, played with frosty excellence by Amanda Seyfried in pearls and creamy knits, takes a shine to this young soul. I have a really good feeling about this, Millie, she says in that perky, slightly crazed clipped way that Seyfried always slays with. This is going to be fun, Millie. Maybe not for Millie, but definitely for us."
Millie Calloway is a down-on-her-luck housekeeper who lives out of her car and secures a live-in position through false credentials. Nina Winchester, the mansion's madam, welcomes Millie with ostentatious warmth before erupting into unpredictable, violent rages. Millie receives a preloaded smartphone, a key with an exterior deadbolt, and an attic room that signals underlying control and menace. The household hides sexual tension, class conflict, and secret depravity among the ultra-rich, with a smoldering husband who complicates alliances. Midway, narrative turns redefine expectations, blending self-aware camp, explicit nudity, and brutal horror while maintaining an undercurrent of female empowerment.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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