Devious "Housemaid" places sexy, worthy adversaries against each other

 

Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) would hardly have been my first choice to direct The Housemaid, an adaption of the novel of the same name by Freida McFadden. Yet as craftfilly as it's been constructed, evoking elements of Hitchcock and even shades of classic conflicts of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, the movie utilizes the charm and skill of its two starlets (Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried) to great effect. I'll avoid spoiling the plot in order to not ruin the fun for the rest of you. But take my word for it: The Housemaid is delicious fun, evoking thrillers of yore, in which two vixens in their prime command every second of its two-plus-hour running time.

One last point: this movie resembles the South Korean film, The Handmaiden (2016), in both plot, characters and the revelations of the final act. I'm told that McFadden did not use it as influence when writing the novel. Now, I'm not accusing her of plagiarism, but I do wish she'd point out the similarities, some of which are 'coincidentally' uncanny.

☆☆☆