Working as a housemaid for the rich Winchester family seems like a dream come true at first for Millie (Sydney Sweeney). Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) is warm, the house is beautiful and pristine, the man of the house Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) is a feast for the eyes and her tasks – cleaning, cooking, and taking nine year old Cecilia to the ballet – are all doable. Even the little room in the attic seems divine to Millie, who recently lost her job and place and has been living in a car. But it is weird that you can only lock it from the outside and that the window doesn’t open, however Nina promises to take care of it and with her criminal record, Millie can’t afford to be picky. However, soon the dream job becomes a toxic trap. The psychotic Nina explodes about every little thing and is a gaslighter extraordinaire and heartthrob, model father, and loving husband Andrew begins to appear in Millie’s dreams.

The adaptation of the domestic noir bestseller by Freida McFadden, who also co-wrote the screenplay, is very loyal to the original and condenses the plot in several places. Like the novel, the film doesn't dwell on atmosphere, logic, subtext, or psychology. All the scenes—strangely bright and low-contrast—the dialogue, and the voice-overs of Millie and Nina, function to propel the wild plot forward. In hair-raising twists, garnished with a touch of eroticism and more than a pinch of sadism, a female revenge fantasy unfolds. Exploitation by women for women and possibly the first part of a franchise: the novel series is currently made up of three parts.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy