Sydney Sweeney's Surprise Box Office Hit 'The Housemaid' Is Now Streaming. Here's How to Watch It Right Now
It may sound silly to say, but nobody says “f–k” like Sydney Sweeney. The Euphoria breakout is notable for many things: a recent string of box office bombs, that enduring jeans/genes controversy, and her tabloid-centered love life. But in Paul Feig’s surprise box office smash The Housemaid, Sweeney stakes claim as the best on-screen swearer of her generation. We’ve seen her deliver a nice, natural f-bomb many times before—in Euphoria, Americana, Echo Valley—but in Feig’s loopy domestic thriller, Sweeney’s ribald delivery lands somewhere in the vicinity of poetry. It’s one of the silliest flourishes (of many) in The Housemaid, which is now streaming. Here’s how you can watch it at home right now.
The Housemaid Is Now Available to Rent at Home
When it arrived in cinemas in December, The Housemaid proved a surprising box office hit—and a much-needed one for director Feig and star Sweeney—taking $350 million worldwide against a slight $40M budget and becoming the star's highest-grossing movie to date. (That number is still growing—The Housemaid is still playing in thousands of cinemas nationwide as of Feb. 10.) With a sequel already confirmed (though Sweeney has yet to officially sign on), the adaptation of Freida McFadden’s trilogy of novels is shaping up to be Hollywood’s next hottest franchise. It’s now available to rent and buy on Amazon Prime Video and other major rental platforms, such as Google Play and YouTube.
Sweeney plays Millie, a young woman with a troubled past who gets a job as a live-in house manager for the Winchester family—wife Nina (Amanda Seyfried), husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar, as charismatic as a bowl of soup), daughter Cecilia (Indiana Elle), and imposing “Mother Winchester” (a delightful but underused Elizabeth Perkins). What at first seems like a dream job for the recently incarcerated Millie soon becomes a nightmare as Nina’s unstable personality reveals itself, and dark secrets hidden within the rambling estate soon tumble forth.
It's Gone Girl-Lite, But Still Very Entertaining
Feig, best known for comedies like Bridesmaids (2011) and Spy (2015), here paints his broadest and most baroque work yet with a terrifically willing Seyfried and Sweeney in the driver’s seat. The filmmaker has waded into these waters previously with the goofy and not-very-satisfying Simple Favor movies (2018 and 2025), but he fares much better with the inventive-if-familiar, GoneGirl-lite structure and ghoulish incident of McFadden’s source. The Housemaid is terrifically entertaining in its knowingly insane sincerity, even if the 133-minute running time comes perilously close to overstaying its welcome in the second act. It’s a move tailor-made to be seen with a big, appreciative crowd who will whoop and holler at its exceedingly goofy but effective turns.
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Sweeney and Seyfried's Acting Styles Are Well Matched
Though its inspirations are clear—most notably Gillian Flynn’s watershed novel and a handful of ‘90s domestic thrillers, specifically Single White Female and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (both 1992)—Feig does an admirable job of obscuring the twists until the moment he drops the hammer. Much of the credit for this, too, lies in Seyfried’s inspired performance. (She's quietly establishing one of the most exciting and varied resumés in modern Hollywood.) A lot has been made of her meme-worthy moments—she performs three full-on meltdowns that would rival Joan Crawford on her campiest day—but amidst her bigger swings, she’s holding down the story as later reveals threaten to spin it off its axis.
Sweeney is also very good, underplaying the slightly more complicated role of the underdog-turned vigilante. Her placement alongside Seyfried is a sharp bit of casting. Many accuse Sweeney’s acting style of being nothing much at all, but most of the time she’s successfully naturalistic and subtle, without moments of overtly actorly emotion. The two stars are exceptionally well-matched.