Breaking Down the Satisfying Ending of The Housemaid

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Okay, so I just saw The Housemaid, and wow! If you’re looking for a movie that’s totally over-the-top, with crazy dialogue and a plot that just keeps you guessing – seriously, you’ll be saying ‘What the heck?!’ a lot – you have to check it out. It’s playing in theaters now, and it’s a wild ride!

Paul Feig, the director behind films like Bridesmaids and A Simple Favor, brings Freida McFadden’s popular 2022 novel to life in this thrilling new movie. The story unfolds at a beautiful mansion in upstate New York, home to Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar), a wealthy couple with a seemingly perfect life and their young daughter, Cecilia. However, their picture-perfect existence hides a dark secret. When Millie (Sydney Sweeney), a young woman recently released from prison after ten years, needs a job to stay on parole, she accepts a position as the Winchesters’ live-in housekeeper, unknowingly entering a dangerous situation.

Millie is puzzled why Nina hired her, considering a basic background check would have shown Millie’s criminal record and dishonesty on her resume. Despite this, Millie moves into a strangely equipped attic room at the Winchesters’ – a room with a door that can only be locked from the outside. She starts her job, which involves cooking, cleaning, and looking after 7-year-old Cece. However, Millie quickly becomes worried about Nina’s unpredictable behavior, which seems deliberately designed to make her life miserable. At the same time, Millie finds herself drawn to Andrew, a handsome and kind man who seems like the perfect partner and father. As Millie adjusts to her increasingly difficult situation, she discovers Nina was once hospitalized after allegedly attempting to drown Cece and overdosing on pills. She learns Andrew saved Cece and that he would likely gain custody of Cece if he and Nina divorced, even though Cece is Nina’s daughter from a previous relationship.

I was absolutely shocked when Millie and Andrew ended up together. While Nina was away at camp with Cece, they had a night out and… well, they slept together at a hotel. When Nina found out – she’d been tracking Millie’s phone, which is just awful – everything exploded. It was a huge fight, and Andrew actually kicked Nina out! Then, he asked Millie to move in with him downstairs. Honestly, for a little while, it felt like Millie had gotten away with everything, and it was all so messed up.

Even with over an hour left in the movie, it becomes obvious a major revelation is coming. That revelation arrives as a twist, similar to the one in Gone Girl, which completely changes how you view everything that’s happened so far. Director Feig explained to Den of Geek that he enjoyed building audience support for things they shouldn’t be rooting for, and then subverting those expectations with the true story.

What is the twist in The Housemaid?

Millie woke up early to surprise Andrew with breakfast in bed, but was startled by the groundskeeper, Enzo (Michele Morrone), watching her through a window and accidentally dropped the tray. A plate from Andrew’s mother’s precious china collection broke, leading Andrew to fire Enzo. He asked Millie to collect the broken pieces so he could have them repaired. Later, when Andrew returned home and found the broken china still on the counter, he convinced Millie to join him in her old attic bedroom, and they ended up sleeping together. It’s pretty clear what happened after that.

Millie wakes up to find herself locked in a room. From the stairwell, Andrew tells her the only way out is to cut herself 21 times with a broken piece of a plate – a gruesome act he demands as punishment for the dish breaking. It’s clear Andrew is a cruel and dangerous person, and his behavior shouldn’t have been surprising.

Nina finally reveals what happened during her marriage, explaining how Andrew would lock her in the attic for days as punishment for small things, like not touching up her hair color. He made her perform humiliating tasks, such as plucking out her own hair, to regain her freedom. We also learn that Andrew was responsible for drugging her and staging a scene to look like a suicide attempt, even involving their daughter, Cece. While the book portrays Nina as believing she imagined Andrew’s abuse and actually tried to harm Cece, the movie shows Nina falsely confessing to wrongdoing to be allowed to return home. However, once she’s back, she realizes she can’t leave Andrew without losing custody of Cece, so she begins to plan how to get him to leave her instead.

Just then, Millie arrived, and Nina immediately sized her up. She was exactly the type of woman Andrew would find irresistible – young, attractive, and seemingly fragile. But Nina knew a dark secret about Millie: she was a murderer. Years ago, as a teenager, Millie had gone to prison for killing a boy at her boarding school. She’d caught him sexually assaulting her roommate, and acted in defense, but no one believed her story – not even her own parents. She was labeled a dangerous criminal instead.

Nina puts her plan into motion, intentionally bringing Millie into Andrew’s life and exaggerating her behavior to try and drive him away. After leaving, Nina goes to get Cece from camp, intending to run away together. However, Cece persuades her that they must return and help Millie.

How does The Housemaid movie end?

Let’s get back to what Millie does. After trying to fight it, she finally gives in and cuts lines into her stomach, then pushes the bloody piece of metal under the door, just as Andrew instructed. When Andrew enters and finds her in bed, she pretends to understand his punishment, but then suddenly stabs him in the neck with a knife she found. They struggle, but Millie manages to get his phone and the knife, locking him in the attic and reversing their roles. In the novel, the scene is different: Millie uses pepper spray—hidden by Nina, who had been forced to use it on herself as a punishment—instead of a knife.

Driven by guilt and a desire for revenge, Millie devises a cruel plan: she makes Andrew pull out his own front tooth, destroying the attractive smile he used to win over women. When Nina returns hoping to rescue Millie from being locked in the attic, she accidentally frees Andrew instead. A heated argument ensues, during which Nina, feigning anger, tells Andrew she’d rather die than return to him. Millie then pushes Andrew down the open staircase, causing him to fall to his death. They decide to cover up the murder by staging it as an accidental fall while Andrew was changing a lightbulb in the chandelier. Millie then escapes. In contrast to this version of events, the book depicts Andrew dying of thirst in the attic, and Nina telling the police he accidentally locked himself in the room without her knowledge.

During the police investigation into Andrew’s death, Nina learns her sister was previously engaged to him and deeply affected when they broke up. The investigating officer, who is the ex-fiancée’s father in the book, seems to know Andrew is dangerous but deliberately avoids pursuing certain lines of questioning. It’s suggested he’s protecting Andrew, despite knowing the truth.

Paul Feig explained to the Hollywood Reporter that while the book had satisfying elements, the movie needed more development. He mentioned adding closure to certain relationships, saying, “We were able to give them a proper ending.” He avoided revealing specific details to avoid spoilers.

At Andrew’s funeral, Nina encounters Millie, who is restricted from leaving the state due to her parole. Nina gives Millie $100,000 and mentions a potential job as a housekeeper. During the interview, the woman hiring Millie subtly reveals a bruised wrist, signaling she’s being abused by her husband. Millie takes the job, letting Nina know she understands it’s a way to help the woman escape the abusive situation.

The film provides a complete and satisfying conclusion. However, director Feig has hinted at the possibility of continuing the story by adapting the remaining two books in The Housemaid series. He told the Reporter that if the movie is successful, he’d be eager to explore what happens with the character Millie next.

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2025-12-20 01:07