Of the 80 tastemakers and entertainment professionals gathered at the West Hollywood Edition for an early screening of The Housemaid, hosted by Glamour, only a handful had read the bestselling psychological thriller by Freida McFadden.
“Millie, played by Sydney Sweeney, is a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Winchester family, played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar,” Glamour senior west coast editor Jessica Radloff told viewers in the hotel’s cozy theater on December 14. “What begins as a dream job, like most do, suddenly turns into something that is not so dreamy—something super dangerous with many twists and turns you won’t see coming.” As it turns out, that was a massive understatement.
During the pre-screening reception, attendees shared their predictions whil enjoying light hors d’oeuvres and sipping cocktails named after the film’s main characters; choosing between “The Nina”—a refined gin cocktail with lime, mint, and cucumber—and “The Millie”—a more robust drink mixed with vodka, St. Germain, lemon, pomegranate juice, simple syrup and sparkling wine. But even the most avid book readers in the building were unaware of the “Hitchcockian” roller coaster they were about to embark on, courtesy of A Simple Favor director Paul Feig.
Renee Cascia
“I’m not much of a thriller person,” Young Sheldon star and Rules For Fake Girlfriends author Raegan Revord told Glamour a few minutes before the screening, though they hoped seeing The Housemaid might inspire a new love for the genre. “Adaptations, in general, are so important because if you are someone who can’t really get into reading, but you have a favorite movie or a favorite show that is an adaptation, that can be the pipeline that gets you into reading and opens up that door.”
The film’s own producer Carly Kleinbart didn’t even finish the entire book before deciding she needed to make the movie, eagerly calling up fellow producer Todd Lieberman while he was in the middle of a silent retreat. “I think it was page 100 and I’m like, I’m fucking in,” she told the audience while introducing the film alongside Lieberman, producer Laura Fischer, and director Paul Feig.
“When I first read [The Housemaid], I was like, ‘Okay, this is a very dark story but at the same time, I think it could be fun,’” Feig added. “There’s very, very dark topics in here, so we don’t shy away from that. But at the same time, we wanted to make this into a movie that’s kind of Hitchcockian, where you have a good time while you’re being thrilled and you’re being scared…This is not a church. You can make noise during this. Have fun.”
Let’s just say the audience took that to heart, gasping and yelling—and sometimes even cackling—throughout the film’s two-hour and 11-minute runtime. I ran into Revord on my way out of the screening, though “wild” was all I could think of to say. Revord enthusiastically agreed, adding, “I have to go read the book now.”
You can see The Housemaid in theaters now…then go home and read McFadden’s entire Housemaid series. Yes, there’s two more books.
