The Housemaid
Lionsgate | Release Date: December 19, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
10
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithDec 18, 2025
The Housemaid is a delightful hall of mirrors in which reality turns out to be subject to infinite modification. Read full review
88
The Associated PressMark KennedyDec 16, 2025
Based on Freida McFadden’s novel, “The Housemaid” rides waves of manipulation and then turns the tables on what we think we’ve just seen, looking at male-female power structures and how privilege can trap people without it. Read full review
87
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeDec 17, 2025
The entertaining and occasionally over-the-top The Housemaid returns Feig to A Simple Favor territory, serving up aspirational, glossy wealth-porn with one hand and the dark underbelly of the glamorous life with the other. Read full review
80
The TimesKevin MaherJan 2, 2026
Sweeney proves here, after Christy, Echo Valley and Reality, that she’s a performer of versatility and, crucially, staying power. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 23, 2025
Seyfried reads the tone of this hokum better than anyone, and knows restraint is hardly called for, using every excuse in the book to go completely bananas. Read full review
80
Radio TimesTerry StauntonDec 23, 2025
Feig could be accused of over-egging puddings in the way he ultimately ties the threads of his characters together, and there are one or two moments when too close an examination of his house of cards might send it tumbling to the ground, but the end result is a satisfyingly scary chiller that benefits from not always taking itself seriously. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanDec 16, 2025
The Housemaid is one of those movies you go with. It’s too stylized, too entertainingly extreme, for you to get hung up on whether it all tracks. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 16, 2025
We get some tastily over-the-top acting and some huge rewind POV shifts to explain what has really been going on – and, of course, the heady whiff of gaslight as Millie can’t quite be sure she really understands anything that’s happening. Silly it may be, but Feig and his cast deliver it with terrific gusto; this is an innocent holiday treat. Read full review
80
SlashfilmWitney SeiboldDec 16, 2025
If you hand Paul Feig a good script, he becomes a better director. With "The Housemaid," he doesn't just explore his characters well, but wisely delves into themes of class. The dishonesty of the rich dangles over "The Housemaid," pointing out how wealth is a moral trap. It's alluring and dangerous. Wealth is practically a living creature. It seems to be dazzling and charming and seductive, but hides its true intentions, fangs secretly in its otherwise perfect smile. Read full review
80
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiDec 16, 2025
Glorious, angry, hilarious, nail-biting fun from a director, writer and cast who all know exactly what they’re doing, and relish in the fact that they’re practically getting away with murder. Read full review
78
The Daily BeastNick SchagerDec 16, 2025
Proves a deliriously amusing vehicle for both glamorous, charismatic actresses. It won’t win Sweeney or Seyfried any prizes, but it’s the sort of hysterical thriller that, in the ’80s and ’90s, was a theatrical staple. Read full review
75
The Travers TakePeter TraversDec 19, 2025
Housemaid Sydney Sweeney and mistress Amanda Seyfried go bonkers to the max and I mean that in the best way. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldDec 18, 2025
Feig, who’s made a specialty of stories featuring unlikely female duos, knows exactly what he’s doing here in the classy-B-movie genre, and “The Housemaid” ticks along like oatmeal-toned clockwork — a little scary, a little silly and very popcorn-appropriate. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDec 18, 2025
Feig stylishly waltzes us through this steamy, twisty mystery with ease, but not necessarily sophistication — this is the kind of frothy entertainment that you can still enjoyably comprehend after a glass or two, which in fact might enhance the experience. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 16, 2025
Fortunately, the last 30 to 40 minutes of “The Housemaid” are so propulsive and unexpected that it makes up for what the middle lacks. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittDec 16, 2025
Steamy, twisty, demented and not exactly subtle in its aim to entertain film fans and BookTok alike. Director Paul Feig’s movie doesn’t hit all the marks of its addictive source material, but the thing is plenty wild enough to be a holiday guilty pleasure. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonDec 18, 2025
Borrowing on certain familiar erotic thriller tropes — let’s all point and stare at the cray-cray lady — it does some back flips and corkscrews appropriate for our time and lands with a cathartic smack. Read full review
70
LooperNina StarnerDec 18, 2025
Is The Housemaid a serious movie? No. Is it often bogged down by a clunky script penned by Rebecca Sonnenshine? Yes. Is it sometimes even stupid? Definitely. Is it fun to watch and sure to become a fun staple? Yes, absolutely — thanks to Seyfried and Feig. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyDec 16, 2025
A lobotomy might be useful to buy all the shock twists and turns of this preposterous story and director Paul Feig too often holds back rather than fully leaning into its campy sensationalism and arch comedy. But holiday counterprogramming doesn’t get much juicier. Read full review
70
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannDec 16, 2025
Even as it veers into darker thematic territory, Feig's light touch and Seyfried's committed performance add an air of deranged enjoyment that make The Housemaid one of the most fun movies of 2025. Read full review
69
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzDec 16, 2025
Only Seyfried truly understood the assignment that Feig handed her, the actress oscillating between two modes – intense and freakishly intense – with finesse.
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 16, 2025
Paul Feig has always seemed a little uncomfortable with exploitation, but he makes some progress with this thriller. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloDec 18, 2025
It’s not an unenjoyable ride, but there’s a lingering sense that it could have been made a bit more fun and campy along the way. Read full review
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