The Housemaid, 2025.

Directed by Paul Feig.
Starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone, Ellen Tamaki, Megan Ferguson, Brian D. Cohen, Indiana Elle, Amanda Joy Erickson, Don DiPetta, Alexandra Seal, Sophia Bunnell, Lamar Baucom-Slaughter and Arabella Olivia Clark.

SYNOPSIS:

A struggling woman is happy to start over as a housemaid for an affluent, elite couple.

Whether or not one has read the recently published book by Freida McFadden, there is no question where director Paul Feig’s The Housemaid (adapted from Rebecca Sonnenshine’s screenplay) is headed. He is, first and foremost, a feminist filmmaker (absolutely not a bad thing), and there are certain predictable but vital modern-day storytelling trends. That’s not a fault here, but it is damn near maddening how long the film wears a mask before arriving at that turning point. Even while acknowledging quite a few clever bits of foreshadowing with a dash of welcome class commentary and themes surrounding gossip and how much of it should be taken credibly, the first half of this narrative doesn’t need to go on for roughly an hour with failed attempts at misdirection.

That the second half of The Housemaid, which lays out the details behind the obvious and fully embraces its trashiness with a sprinkling of truly sinister behavior, is as intense as it is, only makes the shortcomings more frustrating. When the specific “whys” of what is happening here are given to the audience, all that’s left is white-knuckle suspense that could go in multiple directions, with either an optimistic or tragic climax. For whatever reason, the journey to that turn is sometimes a slog – generally only salvaged by its trio of outstanding performances leaning into the campiness – that seemingly assumes its audience has never read a trashy paperback airport novel or seen a thriller.

Despite the predictability of some elements, one still doesn’t want to dive too deeply into the synopsis. Nevertheless, it involves Sydney Sweeney’s Millie, a woman on parole for an undisclosed crime desperately seeking employment to stay on the outside, even if it means telling white lies to hopefully get hired as a live-in housemaid. A meeting for such a position with Amanda Seyfried’s Nina goes as well as she could hope for. Still, in the back of her mind, she believes the resume will be scanned for its dishonesty, costing her the job opportunity.

It goes without saying that Millie gets the job and begins working for Nina, given an attic for a bedroom (which suspiciously has a deadbolt on the door and a window that no longer opens), and basic housework duties such as cleaning, cooking, and looking after the rude young daughter Cecelia (Indiana Elle), who has clearly gotten a bit too comfortable with such a privileged life. Now, there have been some traumatizing hardships as more is gradually revealed about Nina’s past and some actions as a mother. Nina also shows signs of schizophrenia immediately after giving Millie the position, repeatedly and frequently scolding her for doing what was asked, while insisting that she never requested that.

Fortunately, Nina’s husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar, taking a page out of the Glen Powell charming playbook, but with sides to the performance the latter would struggle to pull off) witnesses much of the crashouts and mistreatment toward Millie for no justifiable reason, offering some support, peace, and stability. Unsurprisingly, Millie still wants to find another job and get the hell out of there.

As mentioned, Millie is also played by Sydney Sweeney. Hence, it makes sense that Nina, who is already spiraling and paranoid, would warn her not to make any passes or advances towards Andrew. That’s also where the film starts to fall apart in terms of logic, as no one in their right mind would hire this particular woman to be a housemaid if that insecurity or fear for potential adultery were there, especially after the background check on the resume raises several red flags. Nina’s behavior is also so erratic, temperamental, and hostile that one wonders why someone like Andrew is typically calm, still around, and always so quick to forgive her and downplay the severity of it all.

A lot is happening here regarding the character dynamics that doesn’t make any sense, which is also part of the point since we know there are ulterior motives at play. To sit with such illogical behavior for roughly an hour, while also knowing where this is ultimately going, is downright annoying. The viewer is in a constant state of knowing what’s up while ticked off, waiting for the specifics to come into play and the genre to shift for far too long. Then, The Housemaid starts doing what it should have done a while ago, becoming a genuine thrill ride in the process. It’s a film that admittedly does fire on all cylinders once the puzzle pieces fall into place.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

Eden, 2025.

Directed by Ron Howard.
Starring Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Daniel Brühl, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, Jonathan Tittel, Ignacio Gasparini, Richard Roxburgh, Paul Gleeson, Thiago Moraes, Nicholas Denton, Tim Ross, Antonio Alvarez and Benjamín Gorroño.

SYNOPSIS:

Based on a factual account of a group of outsiders who settle on a remote island only to discover their greatest threat isn’t the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but each other.

Based on true events, esteemed director Ron Howard (fallen on hard times, especially given both the quality of his last film and what it led to…) seems unsure of what tone to take with Eden, a look at a power struggle on Floreana, a Galapagos Island, circa World War I. 

Divided into three groups, they have all escaped civilization for one reason or another, with Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) dedicating time to a manifesto for a new, supposedly more sensible and humane brand of social norms. He is also a quack convincing his wife, Dora Strauch (Vanessa Kirby), that this self-imposed exile will also give him the peace and time necessary to focus on curing her multiple sclerosis. His rules for a more respectable society contain everything from vegetarianism to the usual clichéd rambling about pain functioning as a necessary ingredient to growth and happiness.

That quiet isolation is impeded upon, first with the arrival of the Wittmer family, looking to escape the war, poverty, and live freely, growing their garden. Sydney Sweeney slides right into the more traditionally conservative wife role of Margaret, currently pregnant and somewhat docile toward her husband, Heinz (Daniel Bruhl), a man she married not out of love but for a severe lack of experience, and that she was asked to take his hand. That does not mean that this is a boring role for Sydney Sweeney; even if she isn’t entirely convincing regarding looks (there are times that, even in the period piece clothing, she resembles a contemporary woman) and accent, the back half allows her character ample opportunity to show that, while often quiet and passive, her character bears much intelligence and is capable of making risky choices under pressure.

Soon after Dr. Ritter intentionally settles them into a plot of land he deems will make gardening impossible and them want to leave within a few weeks, a spoiled and flirty baroness (Ana de Armas) unexpectedly shows up with a couple of young and handsome sycophants (Jonathan Tittel and All Quiet on the Western Front’s Felix Kammerer) to do everything from make her feel important, cook her canned food, steal some more canned food (somehow, she stupidly assumes what she brought would be enough to last a lifetime, and is too entitled to eat anything homegrown on the island), fornicate, and last but not least, manipulate her way into control over the island as she is looking to build a ritzy hotel solely for the rich.

Dr. Ritter couldn’t give a damn about any of these people, quick to place them into unfortunate circumstances, pitting them against one another. The joke is on him, though, as these people are either more suited for this lifestyle or competent than he or his wife, causing him to start breaking the rules going into his manifesto. Each of them (more so the baroness) knows what buttons to push to bring out his anger and insecurities.

A solid idea for a psychological triple threat match, Ron Howard’s (co-writing alongside Noah Pink) approach to this is a clunky blending of tones that never gels. Anything involving the baroness is played over the top and campy, at odds with the more serious attempts at character study. Ana de Armas isn’t bad here, but she is in another movie entirely, and one that might have worked if that tone was consistent across the board. Giving confidence to this belief is that, once her character exits the story for reasons that won’t be spoiled, the dramatic rift between the other two groups suddenly becomes compelling, with a layer of deadly intrigue and darker impulses. At a little over 2 hours, Eden is also a film that benefits from such a running time, allowing for lengthy sequences dedicated to each group and letting their characters breathe outside the larger picture.

Eden has one last piece of frustration in store once the ending credits start, noting that there are two different perspectives to these factual accounts. How Ron Howard and Noah Pink arrived at the story they have told here is anyone’s guess (presumably trying to find the truth in the middle), but that piece of information suggests a much more narratively creative and ambitious approach to the story. That’s not to guarantee it would have been better, but, aside from the intriguing curiosity of essentially every Hollywood IT actress in one movie playing mental mind games for superiority over an island, this veers between dry and overly wacky, never finding a working middle ground until it’s too late. 

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

Jack Black, left, and Paul Rudd in a scene from “Anaconda.”
| Photo Credit: Matt Grace