In 2024, “Euphoria” series star Sydney Sweeney made a big splash in the cinema! Within the first four months of the year she was featured in four films on local screens. With “Where the Lie Falls” she landed a surprising RomCom super hit – and her performance in the real-time thriller “Reality” even got her a place in the awards race. Even her rather small appearance in the MCU megaflop “Madame Web” was seen as one of the few bright spots – and with “Immaculate”, a monastery horror with a WTF finale, she also positioned herself as a scream queen. However, 2025 looked completely different again (and we don't mean the jeans controversy): She remained pale in the exit intrigue game “Eden”, hardly anyone noticed her streaming thriller “Echo Valley”, her neo-Western “Americana”, which was shot in 2022, was supposed to benefit from the sudden hype, but completely failed in US cinemas.
However, Sweeney suffered her most severe setback with the flop of the boxer biopic “Christy” – an absolute passion project that she even supported with her own production company, but which failed to score points at the box office or with film critics. It almost seemed as if Sweeney was the relegated actress of the year – at least until the bestselling adaptation “The Housemaid – If She Knew”, which was full of surprising twists, came to US cinemas just in time for Christmas. The nasty psychological thriller from “Bridesmaid” director Paul Feig immediately grossed so much money in North America that the studio has already given the green light for the sequel “The Housemaid 2” (probably launching in 2027). But while the (temporary) turnaround has been achieved at least at the box office, things unfortunately don't look nearly as rosy when it comes to the quality of the film.
Millie (Sydney Sweeney) can hardly believe her luck when she actually gets a job as a housekeeper in a luxury villa…
Millie's (Sydney Sweeney) life hasn't exactly gone according to plan. With an unfinished degree, she drags herself from one day to the next without a job or an apartment while spending the nights in her rickety car. That's why she can hardly believe her luck when the wealthy Nina (Amanda Seyfried) offers her a job as a domestic helper, including room and board, in her huge villa. But as soon as Millie moves in, Nina shows her true face: the lady of the house keeps completely freaking out while she accuses her employee of alleged misconduct.
Millie also simply cannot find a connection with Nina's spoiled and disrespectful daughter Cecelia (Indiana Elle). However, Nina's attractive and successful husband Andrew (Brendan Sklenar) is considerate and kind to her – which makes his wife extremely jealous. Despite cryptic warnings from Enzo (Michele Morrone), the family gardener, Millie has no choice but to stay. It doesn't take long before the already tense situation finally escalates…
Tries noble
The million-selling novel “If She Knew” (here on Amazon*) by frequent writer Freida McFadden is the epitome of literature that you can quickly pick up at the train station or airport for a longer trip. Just one of those thrillers that prefer to be set in stuffy US suburbs and revolve around the nefarious things that are going on behind the curtains of the neighboring houses. Paul Feig (“Just a Small Favor”) tries to turn it into a noble thriller enriched with erotic undertones in the style of David Fincher’s brilliant “Gone Girl”. But instead the result is a mediocre, overlong, albeit pleasantly dark “Desperate Housewives” episode.
Instead of just relying on smooth, shiny surfaces, Feig should perhaps have – in keeping with the novel – directed an uninhibitedly exaggerated, possibly even deliberately trashy film. In principle there is nothing wrong with such airport pulp – it's just better not to take it too seriously. Unfortunately, the actors have a similar problem: Sydney Sweeney and “Just One More Time” sweetheart Brendan Sklenar appear so matter-of-factly, as if they were playing in decidedly more sophisticated fare instead of having a bit of fun with their decidedly clichéd roles. Only Amanda Seyfried (“Mamma Mia!”) seems to have understood what kind of story she is taking part in and keeps turning things up a notch – just as the increasingly absurd twists actually demand.
At least Amanda Seyfried gives the monkey a lot of sugar with her performance – just as the original's over-the-top twists actually demand!
Almost everything without Amanda Seyfried seems laborious and stilted. In particular, the scenes with the already superfluous gardener, played by the very wooden “365 Days” beau Michele Morrone, repeatedly invite you to roll your eyes. This seems unintentionally funny rather than suspenseful. The big twist in the finale, which finally gets really exciting and even appropriately over-the-top, is also based on too many negligently papered-over plot holes and weak characterizations – so that, even if only a few people actually predict it, it is likely to provoke little more than a shrug of the shoulders from the majority of the audience.
Conclusion: Instead of consistently engaging with the excessive trash factor of the original, Paul Feig tries to create a noble thriller à la “Gone Girl” from the source material. But unfortunately, despite a playful Amanda Seyfried, he doesn't manage to do this any better than he did with his disappointing Amazon Prime sequel “Just a Little Favor”.