Tone can be a tricky thing in movies.
Those in a comedy must not know they’re in a comedy. Instead, the characters in THE BIRDCAGE must act like a conservative senator coming to their gay household for dinner is the most serious of undertakings.
The characters in a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie must never act like all the rough and tumble action they’re perpetrating is utterly ludicrous. Instead, their world is always at stake and the reason that no one bats an eye at all such histrionics.
And anyone in a pulpy, cat fight of a female-driven melodrama like MAY DECEMBER must all be operating from the same manual, and that goes for the director, screenwriter, and below-the-line artists. Consistency must be the priority. If the film calls for subtle underplaying of even the most outrageous of scenes, then everyone must be on that same page.
Unfortunately, in the new film THE HOUSEMAID, starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, directed by Paul Feig, a consistency of tone is its problem from the get-go. Some is played too straight, some performances are far too arch, and the script is all over the map, turning on a dime from reasonable to irrational at whim. In fact, most of the film is far too reasonable for a good 90 minutes before its final act goes for broke (Oh, and a 2-hour and 11-minute length is far too long for a melodrama as well here.) Parts of THE HOUSEMAID are effective, especially the numerous rug-pulls in the last 30 minutes, but its slow burn is a grave miscalculation. Feig and his screenwriters Rebecca Sonnenshine and Freida McFadden are smart enough filmmakers to know better.
The story concerns a down-on-her-luck young woman named Millie (Sweeney) desperately needing the housekeeping job that the privileged Nina (Seyfried) is interviewing candidates for in her tony suburb of New York. Nina wants a young and vital live-in maid who can also run errands and do cooking here and there as needed. All this would be perfect for Millie as she checks those boxes, plus she’s currently homeless and flat broke.
Fortunately, Milli gets hired. Both characters are set up with a certain mystery to them as well, laying the ground work for the melodrama and thriller inklings we get the sense of, and all is well with tone for a while. But inconsistencies start popping up with Nina clearly lying to Millie for no reason and creating far too much derision in the house involving her handsome, tech bro hubby Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) and young daughter Cecilia (Indiana Elle).
It also doesn’t help that the film has spotty and inconsistent narration provided by Millie. Her narration, distinguished with a down-to-earth honesty, is a bad red herring, especially when Millie will be shown to have her own peccadilloes and psychological issues spring up that never get mentioned until far too late in said narration. Instead, the film should have dumped such a crutch and let the actions tell the story here.
It’s a shame that an accomplished actress like Seyfried seems to be operating in an entirely different film versus her costars who all underplay as to be almost cyphers in the story. Sweeney is especially disappointing as she’s done pulpy, melodrama to perfection before in the likes of her starring role on HBO’s series EUPHORIA. But no, Seyfried is left out there on the edge alone, getting more cra-cra as Nina unravels. It takes the rest of the film those 90 minutes to catch up to her. By then, the nuttiness has reach its zenith as marriage vows are crossed, violence is instigated, and plenty of screaming and blood will flow. It’s all too much, too little, too late.
Sure, there are some delicious twists in the material, but too much of the first 90 minutes feels like warmed-over leftovers from any run-of-the-mill Lifetime movies. Most of the preview audience I saw the screening with spent far too much time this film sniggering with dismissive laughter at all the hoary cliches trotted out by Feig, etc. during that time. But then the filmmakers earn legit laughs, big ones too, with the many twists in the final act, but it feels like course correction.
Two final thoughts:
First, Feig has now done three such fighting female melodramas in the last decade – A SIMPLE FAVOR, ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR, and this one – with diminishing returns for each. Time to pivot.
Second, if you want to see a smart melodrama with female characters battling for supremacy, check out the six-part miniseries THE GIRLFRIEND on Amazon Prime Video. It stars Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke in a much smarter, sexier, and still twisty melodrama. The tone of THE GIRLFRIEND is consistent and it’s all played slyly, with a certain subtleness applied to it by all involved.
Indeed, pulp and melodrama are tricky to pull off, but it can be done. Just not here with THE HOUSEMAID.
