Paul Feig’s campy, intensive thriller “The Housemaid,” which became a surprising box office juggernaut after its December 2025 release, is officially getting a sequel. This seems like great news if you’ve seen the movie; /Film’s Witney Seibold praised this compulsively watchable, surprisingly hilarious and incredibly bloody film as an “excellent, wicked drama” in the vein of Feig’s previous thriller, 2018’s “A Simple Favor.” could be bad news.
For what? Amanda Seyfried’s character, Nina Winchester, does not appear in the literary sequel “The Housemaid’s Secret,” and Seyfried is, by far, the best part of “The Housemaid.”
A press release from Lionsgate today revealed that Feig and the film’s other co-lead, Sydney Sweeney, will return for a “Housemaid” sequel after the first was a runaway success for his studio. This makes sense, given that the film clearly ends with a hint at a potential follow-up. The sequel to McFadden’s novel, “The Housemaid’s Secret,” gives Millie a whole new situation in which she works for a seemingly perfect couple with tensions simmering just beneath the surface, but crucially, it’s not Nina, whose problems are resolved quite well by the end of the first book. And movie. Spoilers to come, but here’s precisely how “The Housemaid” sets up a sequel and why I fear it will work without Seyfried.
The Housemaid is clearly planning a sequel, and now it has one – but it might only star Sydney Sweeney
If you haven’t seen “The Housemaid” or your memories are just a little fuzzy, here’s a refresher. Out of prison for manslaughter and seriously down on her luck, Millie Calloway finds a seemingly perfect job as the titular housekeeper for Nina Winchester and her handsome, successful husband Andrew (“It Ends With Us” and “1923”, the standout Brandon Sklenar). One advantage is that Millie, who lives in her car at the start of the film, lives in the Winchester house, although her room seems alarming even before we learn the truth: It’s an attic room with a small window, and the door seems to lock from the outside only.
Eventually, we learn the truth about Nina and Andrew’s marriage. Not only is Andrew incredibly controlling, but he is violent and he frequently locks Nina in that attic to teach her a lesson. Nina, as we find out, is using Millie, knowing of her violent past and hoping that Millie can seduce and then get rid of Andrew on Nina’s behalf.
This is precisely what Millie does after Nina convinces Andrew to leave her and “be with” Millie instead, knowing that he would repeat his old patterns. So what do you think of this sequel? After Andrew leaves and Nina and her daughter Cecelia are safe, Millie visits one of Nina’s friends, who is showing signs of physical abuse, and asks Millie if she can help her with her problem. I read “The Housemaid’s Secret”, and the gist is that Millie ends up moving to New York and helping another rich woman in danger with a problem (namely her horrible husband). This is the common thread that connects Freida McFadden’s novels, but it doesn’t mean Amanda Seyfried’s.
The Housemaid was a lot of fun, and that’s mainly due to Amanda Seyfried’s incredible central performance.
If Paul Feig is trying to create a cinematic universe in which Sydney Sweeney’s Millie Calloway is the only constant and leads a handful of “Housemaid” films, I see a problem right off the bat: Sweeney doesn’t carry “The Housemaid,” despite being the ostensible protagonist. Amanda Seyfried does it. Personally, I think Seyfried is one of the most underrated actresses of our generation; Despite an Emmy for “The Dropout,” an Oscar for “Mank” and buzz, as of this writing, about a potential nomination for his starring role in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” Seyfried’s name doesn’t seem to come up that often when we talk about generational talent, and I think it should! “The Housemaid” proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. As Nina Winchester, a rich and pampered housewife who must orchestrate a romance between Millie and Andrew to escape her husband’s clutches, Seyfried is edgy, funny and creates an unforgettable performance – frankly, I think this turn is on the level of Allison Williams’ twisted one in “Get Out” (a big compliment coming from me).
Sure, Feig could flip through his proverbial Rolodex and contact any number of big stars if he wants to faithfully adapt “The Housemaid’s Secret” and find someone great to play that story’s beleaguered wife, Wendy Garrick, but I have a feeling it’s probably always going to feel empty without Seyfried’s wide-eyed, erratic, and genuinely exciting presence. I’m a big Feig fan and I trust him…but I left my screening of “The Housemaid” marveling at Seyfried’s performance, so I guess we’ll see if that lightning can strike twice.
“The Housemaid” is currently in theaters.
