If you just walked out of The Housemaid (2025), your head is probably spinning. Sydney Sweeney (2025) as Millie and Amanda Seyfried (2025) as Nina just delivered the most “unhinged” holiday movie of the year. But if you read the Freida McFadden (2022) book, you noticed that director Paul Feig (2025) took some massive liberties with the finale.
The Big Twist: Was Nina the Villain?
For the first hour, the movie gaslights you into thinking Nina Winchester is a paranoid nightmare. But the twist reveals that her husband, Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar, 2025), is the true monster. He’s a serial abuser who locks his wives in the attic to “punish” them for being imperfect.
Nina didn’t hire Millie because she was a good cleaner; she hired her because she knew Millie was an ex-con who had killed before. Nina was looking for a weapon, and Millie was it.
How the Movie Ending Differs from the Book
| Feature | The Original Book (2022) | The 2025 Movie |
| The Basement Torture | Andrew forces Millie to stack heavy books for hours as a “punishment.” | Andrew forces Millie to carve 21 lines into her own stomach with a broken plate. |
| The Pliers Scene | Does not happen. | Millie locks Andrew in the attic and forces him to pull his own tooth out with pliers. |
| The Climax | Andrew dies of dehydration/thirst while locked in the attic. Millie never touches him. | Andrew escapes the attic! Millie pushes him over the banister to his death to save Nina. |
| The Cop Twist | The detective is the father of one of Andrew’s victims. | The detective is the sister of Andrew’s ex-fiancée, Kathy. |
| The Ending | Millie and Enzo (the gardener) form a vigilante group for abused women. | Millie is a solo “Maid-Vigilante” interviewing for a job with a new victim. |
In the Freida McFadden novel, the ending is cold and dark. Millie locks Andrew in the attic and lets him die of thirst while she and Nina escape.
However, the 2025 film goes full “Hollywood Action”:
- The Pliers Scene: In a brutal new addition, Millie forces Andrew to pull out his own tooth with pliers while he’s locked in the attic.
- The Great Escape: Unlike the book, Andrew actually escapes the attic! He almost kills Nina, but Millie saves the day by pushing him over the grand banister to his death.
- The “Clean” Getaway: A female police officer—whose sister was also an ex of Andrew’s—recognizes his pattern of abuse and helps Nina and Millie cover up the “accident.”
The 2025 “Sequel” Setup
The movie ends with a scene that isn’t in the first book but perfectly sets up the sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret. We see Millie interviewing for a new job with a woman who clearly has bruises on her wrists. Millie gives the camera a knowing look—she’s no longer just a maid; she’s a vigilante for abused wives.
Why the Critics are Divided
While The Housemaid is tracking for a massive $30M+ opening weekend, the reviews are polarized. Some critics call it “glorious high-camp trash,” while others, said it to be slammed Sydney Sweeney’s performance as “blasé.” But for fans of the book, seeing Sydney and Amanda go toe-to-toe is the 2025 cinematic event they’ve been waiting for.
Sydney Sweeney isn’t the only one dealing with “modern face” critiques. Read about her co-star in Where Did Alexa Demie Go After Euphoria?.
Know exactly why the filmmakers decided to change the book’s original ending to the more “cinematic” and violent finale we saw in theaters.
