From bestseller to big screen, Freida McFadden’s twisty 2022 novel The Housemaid is finally getting the Hollywood treatment — and the first look proves things are about to get dark.
On Tuesday, September 16, Lionsgate dropped the trailer for the upcoming psychological thriller, set to a haunting rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please.” Sydney Sweeney steps into the role of Millie, a live-in maid with her own secrets, while Amanda Seyfried plays Nina Winchester, the manipulative employer who just might be hiding even bigger ones.
The footage wastes no time: Millie takes the job, meets the Winchester family (including Nina’s husband Andrew, played by Brandon Sklenar, and their daughter Cecilia, played by Indiana Elle), and quickly notices things aren’t what they seem. Enter Michele Morrone as the ominous groundskeeper (Enzo), and suddenly the house feels more like a trap than a home. From there, the trailer sharpens its edge — glimpses of knives, bloodied glass, and doors slamming hint that the new housemaid gig is headed for chaos.
According to W Magazine, the synopsis teases Millie “soon learns the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own,” and the first look leans all the way into that tension.
Shortly after dropping on YouTube, fans wasted no time reacting.
"The attention to detail! As someone who has read the book, this trailer does justice. Nina's hair, the attic and mini fridge, and white clothes everything! super excited," one person wrote.
"Here to watch Amanda Seyfried DEVOUR this role! 😏🗝️📕," another said.
"The house looks exactly how I pictured it honestly omg," chimed in a third.
"I’ve read the book and you guys, the plot twist is gonna HIT you like a truck," someone else added.
Behind the camera, Paul Feig directs from a script by Rebecca Sonnenshine. Feig, 62, admitted earlier this year that adapting McFadden’s thriller wasn’t easy. “Because it’s nerve-wracking…like, it’s easy to make something out of a book that’s not good — when a book’s really good, it’s like, oh boy,” he told People in March.
Still, the veteran director praised the cast, recently telling the outlet that Sweeney, 28, and Seyfried, 39, “are both up for anything, and we had so much fun playing with all the twists and turns that the story takes these characters through. They both slipped into these challenging roles effortlessly and took full ownership of them. We couldn’t have had a better time together making this movie.”
The Housemaid lands in theaters on December 19.