Sydney Sweeney is starring in ‘The Custom of the Country.’
It’s an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s classic novel.
‘Mary Queen of Scots’ Josie Rourke will direct.
After a rough stretch of controversial commercials and some box office flops, are things looking up for Sydney Sweeney? Could be!
Hot on the heels of ‘The Housemaid’ doing good business at the box office (and spawning a sequel in ‘The Housemaid’s Secret’) comes word of Sweeney landing another novel adaptation gig via ‘The Custom of the Country,’ which will be based on Edith Wharton‘s 1913 book.
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Sweeney will play Undine, described as “a fiercely ambitious woman from the Midwest who strives for the social heights of turn-of-the-century New York. Armed with beauty, daring/hustle and sheer force of will/unwavering ambition, she battles an entrenched elite, fearlessly courting controversy, until love and fortune align.”
‘The Custom of the Country’: the director speaks
(L to R) Sydney Sweeney and director David Michôd in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
Here’s Rourke on the movie:
“Undine Spragg is the original dangerous woman. Edith Wharton’s character has forever fascinated, seduced and infuriated readers. ‘The Custom of the Country’ was Wharton’s great American novel and Undine Spragg sweeps across America and through Europe at top speed, during a time of immense economic and social change. The book whistles with modernity and as I was writing this adaptation, Sydney Sweeney lived in my head as this iconic character — it’s as if Wharton sat down a century ago and wrote the role for her. I’m thrilled to be working with this luminous actor, Charles Finch, Alison Owen and StudioCanal to bring this novel to the screen.”
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Preview:
The sequel to ‘The Housemaid’ is scheduled to shoot this year.
Star Sydney Sweeney and director Paul Feig are both in talks to return.
It’ll once again adapt a Freida McFadden book.
Aiming to strike while the iron is hot and people are still talking about the first movie, Lionsgate has quickly given the thumbs up for a sequel to psychological thriller ‘The Housemaid,’ which has been doing solid business at the box office since December 19 (to be exact: $75 million domestically in its first 17 days of release and $133 million worldwide, with more countries still to come).
(L to R) Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway and Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Trying to escape her past, Millie Calloway Sweeney) accepts a job as a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar).
But what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous—a sexy, seductive game of secrets, scandal, and power.
‘The Housemaid’s Secret’ will see Millie working for another family that –– surprise, surprise! –– harbors some dark secrets. We suppose there wouldn’t really be a movie if they didn’t.
Returning screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine has been at work on the new script, which Feig should be filming this year. And with a third book already on shelves (“The Housemaid is Watching”), we can expect more if the sequel does well.
‘The Housemaid’s Secret’: the studio and director talk
(L to R) Brandon Sklenar, Amanda Seyfried, Sydney Sweeney and director Paul Feig at the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas.Photo: Lionsgate.
Here’s Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson on the decision to kickstart the sequel:
“It’s clear from both the global box office and from the outpouring on social media that audiences have responded strongly – and audibly – to the totally unique and truly theatrical experience of ‘The Housemaid’ and want to know what happens next. We believed in these stories from the very beginning, and we are beyond excited to bring the next chapter of Millie’s story to life on-screen in collaboration with our outstanding creative partners Todd, Paul, Laura, Carly, Alex, and Sydney. ‘The Housemaid’s Secret’ is another wildly thrilling book in Freida’s series that has captivated readers worldwide, and we look forward to translating it into a similarly rousing and riotous moviegoing experience.”
And here’s Feig on the sequel:
“It’s been thrilling to see audiences around the world fall in love with The Housemaid and the incredible work of our talented cast and crew. We’re lucky that Freida McFadden has already extended Millie’s journey on the page, and that we get to work with Rebecca Sonnenshine and Lionsgate to bring this next story to audiences.”
When will ‘The Housemaid’s Secret’ be in theaters?
Lionsgate has yet to confirm when the new movie might be on screens, but we’d guess it could be ready for 2027 at the latest.
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ won the weekend’s box office.
James Cameron’s latest earned $345 globally.
Angel Studios’ David took second place.
Once again, it’s James Cameron’s world, and we’re just living in it.
The filmmaker’s latest trip to the moon of Pandora, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’ heated up the frosty box office, opening top of the charts with $88 million.
And while that figure puts it behind the launch of 2022’s predecessor ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ it’s never in the opening that ‘Avatar’ movies really perform, and this new franchise entry is likely to hang around the charts, hoovering up cash.
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The new movie also represents some hefty figures for the filmmaker in particular, representing his biggest global launch (more on that below) and the second-biggest start for a movie this year (squeezed in between fellow Disney stablemates ‘Zootopia 2’ and ‘Lilo & Stitch.’)
Overseas, the new ‘Avatar’ entry took in $257 million, leading to a global launch of $345 million. That is, as mentioned, the best international start for a Cameron movie.
According to Cameron himself, the movie needs to perform in order for him to keep making ‘Avatar’ films:
“It is one metric f**k ton of money, which means we have to make two metric f**k tons of money to make a profit. I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will make money. The question is, does it make enough money to justify doing it again?”
Now, we wait to see what sort of staying power ‘Fire and Ash’ displays…
What else happened at the box office this weekend?
‘David.’ Photo: Angel Studios.
With a big-screen Goliath dominating the chance, it seems somehow fitting that faith-based outfit Angel Studios chose to release ‘David,’ a kid-friendly story inspired by the Biblical tale of the warrior who took on the giant, and spun-off from TV series ‘Young David.’
The movie made $22 million on 3,118 screens, arriving in second place and marking the best three-day opening for Angel.
In fifth place was ‘Zootopia 2’, which is still doing great business. It added $14.5 million in its fourth weekend on release, tallying $282 million domestically to date and a massive $1.27 billion globally, making it the most successful Hollywood release of the year so far.
Finally, opening 10th, Timothée Chalamet-starrer ‘Marty Supreme’ made an impressive debut in limited release, earning $875,000. That doesn’t sound much until you remember it opened on just six screens ahead of an expansion planned for Christmas Day.
That represents $145,933 per theater — the best of the year and highest average since ‘La La Land’ in 2016, according to studio A24.
(L to R) Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway and Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Too often these days, a trailer for a new movie sells you a different experience than the one you eventually end up seeing – making something darker look funnier than it is, for example. There’s no such problem with ‘The Housemaid’: based on the best-selling novel by Freida McFadden, director Paul Feig’s adaptation is exactly what it promises: a campy, twisty psychological thriller, laced with laughs and a narrative that almost makes fun of itself – until it doesn’t.
Feig – who seems to find his best groove lately with potboilers like this and ‘A Simple Favor’ – navigates the story’s twists and turns mostly successfully, aided by his trio of lead performers. While the film’s third act spins off the rails a bit in terms of tone and control, it still manages to be entertaining, with a crowd-pleaser of an ending that will send audiences out satiated.
Story and Direction
(L to R): Sydney Sweeney as Millie and Amanda Seyfried as Nina in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) applies for a job as a live-in housemaid with Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried), a seemingly pleasant if high-strung homemaker who lives in her extravagant Long Island mansion with her rather cheeky daughter Cici (Indiana Elle) and handsome, charming, and effortlessly attentive husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar).
Millie, despite lying about her background and hiding the fact that she’s sleeping in her car and on parole after serving 10 years in prison, gets the job – only to find out once she starts that Nina is hiding a few secrets of her own, including the fact that she spent nine months in a psych ward for reasons revealed much later. Right off the part, Nina’s mood swings and capriciously cruel treatment of Millie indicate that something is wrong, along with the suspicious behavior of the groundskeeper, Enzo (Michele Morrone, from Netflix’s ‘365 Days’ sexathons). Luckily, Andrew is there to comfort Millie – even if his lingering glances indicate that he wants more than that.
(L to R) Brandon Sklenar as Andrew Winchester and Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
For much of its first two-thirds, ‘The Housemaid’ follows a seemingly conventional narrative almost to a fault, but the go-for-broke performances from its leads, precision needle drops, and Feig’s skillful balancing act of camp and psychological cat-and-mouse keep it thoroughly engaging. The world of wealth and privilege that the Winchesters inhabit is also roasted quite handily, thanks to Andrew’s almost ridiculously snooty mother (Elizabeth Perkins) and the local housewives, who at one point gossip about Nina after she leaves the room – even though Millie, who is all but invisible to them, is still there and can hear everything.
‘The Housemaid’ becomes predictable enough at a certain point that it almost screams that a twist is coming – one that is more or less telegraphed – and when that rug-pull is revealed, the movie tumbles into some surprisingly darker territory. It’s in the final third that Feig and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine lose some of their grip on the material, diverging a bit from the book and stretching things out a bit too long with one betrayal or turnaround after another. Yet ‘The Housemaid’ still wraps up nicely, its conclusion both satisfying and leaving the door open for a continuation (McFadden did write two follow-up novels).
Cast and Performances
(L to R): Amanda Seyfried as Nina and Sydney Sweeney as Millie in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
‘The Housemaid’ opens one week before ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ also starring Amanda Seyfried, and you’re not likely to see two more different performances in theaters this year. That’s a compliment to the immense range of Seyfried, who plays Nina as an unpredictable weather pattern whose next ferocious storm will be followed just as quickly by a brief ray of sunshine. She keeps the audience off-balance throughout with a broad-strokes, jangling energy and does pampered housewife just as well as she does colonial religious leader.
Sweeney is more low-key as a counterpoint, and a bit more limited in her range here than in her underrated ‘Christy’ from earlier this fall, but her seemingly submissive surface seethes subtly with a coiled watchfulness and smirking sense of play. As Andrew, Brandon Sklenar has the necessary physical presence to sell the character’s in-your-face masculinity, but otherwise his initial blandness comes across almost as a parody yet suits the contours of his character.
Final Thoughts
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
‘The Housemaid’ may feel at times like one of those lightly erotic true-crime dramas that are the stock-in-trade of Netflix (and there is a smattering of sultry scenes here), but Paul Feig and his leading ladies give it a cinematic gloss and a sense of satire that may often elude that oversaturated genre.
Playful and fun at some points, unnervingly dark at others, ‘The Housemaid’ might end up being what some grownups want for date night at the movies this holiday season instead of talking Disney animals or the blue cat people of Pandora (not that there’s anything wrong with those, of course). At a time when pulpy, provocative, adult-oriented movies are harder to find, ‘The Housemaid’ may be just the help you’re looking for.
‘The Housemaid’ receives a score of 80 out of 100.
Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
What is the plot of ‘The Housemaid’?
When Millie Calloway takes a job as live-in housemaid to the wealthy yet moody Nina Winchester and her attractive, charming husband Andrew, it’s only a matter of time before dark secrets, bizarre occurrences, and hidden passions erupt in the Winchesters’ seemingly perfect lives.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Housemaid’?
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway
Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester
Brandon Sklenar as Andrew Winchester
Michele Morrone as Enzo
Elizabeth Perkins as Evelyn Winchester
Indiana Elle as Cecilia Winchester
Megan Ferguson as Jilianne
Ellen Tamaki as Patrice
‘The Housemaid’ opens in theaters on December 19th.
Noah Centineo may join the live-action ‘Gundam’ movie.
Sydney Sweeney is already attached.
Jim Mickle is aboard to direct.
We brought news back in April that Sydney Sweeney was in talks to star in a live-action version of the ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ anime franchise that Legendary was busy building.
One of the most revered animé, ‘Gundam’ is thought of as the ‘Star Wars’ or Marvel Universe of Japan, and is the pioneer of the mecha genre of IP.
Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the ‘Gundam’ franchise spans 83 animated series and movies. Its toy and retail business are huge, with the various products and projects generating over $600 million annually.
The original anime, 1979 series ‘Mobile Suit Gundam,’ is set in the Universal Century, an era in which humanity’s growing population has led people to emigrate to space colonies.
Eventually, the people living in the colonies seek their autonomy, and launch a war of independence against the people living on Earth. The battles in the story are fought by the characters piloting robots known as mobile suits.
Part of the mecha genre, the sci-fi subgenre that centers on robots in combat (and usually they are giant robots), it veered from the formula followed by its mecha predecessors in a manner that added dramatic new tones and textures to the genre.
Previously, the giant robots in mecha stories were presented as almost magical devices with celebrity pilots who operated them via remote control or command. Tomino found those Aladdin-with-a-robot tales flimsy so he re-envisioned them as colossal weapons at the center of a complex military epic.
The giant robots, like Flying Fortress, had crews with ace pilots and everyman mechanics, which lent new perspectives, pathos, and battlefield energy to the saga and then to its genre.
Back in 2019, we learned that ‘Y: The Last Man,’ ‘Ex Machina’ and ‘Runaways’ comic book creator Brian K. Vaughan (who has worked on the TV likes of ‘Lost’ and shows spawned from his titles) was hired to start work on a screenplay for Legendary’s live-action take on the ‘Gundam’ adventures –– the first to move it from the animated sphere.
With Sweeney seemingly aboard and Centineo circling, the star power is well and truly locked down. This one should be shooting next year if all goes well.
‘Predator: Badlands’ has started in impressive fashion at the box office.
It has earned more than $80 million globally.
Other movies didn’t fare as well.
Looks like audiences were more than ready to get back on the hunt.
‘Predator: Badlands,’ the newest movie featuring the titular alien creatures, soared to the top of the box office this past weekend, earning a healthy $40 million at the box office.
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The movie, which was budgeted at $105 million (not counting advertising costs), is the most successful launch for the ‘Predator’ franchise, overtaking the previous record holder, 2004’s franchise crossover ‘Alien vs. Predator.’
It’s the latest success in the series for co-writer/director Dan Trachtenberg, who previously made the likes of ‘Prey’ and the animated ‘Predator: Killer of Killers,’ both of which were well received but were released via Hulu.
The new ‘Predator’ outing was just as successful outside the States, earning another $40 million for an $80 million global opening. That’s a great start, and points to it reaching profitability.
Here’s Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian on the movie’s success:
“ ‘Predator: Badlands’ shows how unpredictable and dynamic the marketplace can be. All it takes is one over-performance to get the industry back on track. This is a great lead in for what promises to be one of the better months of November for the industry.”
What else happened at the box office this weekend?
(L to R) Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in ‘Die My Love’. Photo: Kimberley French/Mubi.
Unfortunately for the box office prospects, ‘Badlands’ was one of the few movies to make much of an impact this week, the rest of the new arrivals limited to less wide releases and awards contenders.
Faith-based entry ‘Sarah’s Oil’ fared best, opening in fourth place with $4.5 million. ‘Nuremberg’, a drama about the historic post-World War II trials, did solid business, landing fifth with $4.1 million, though given its higher-profile and starry cast (Russell Crowe and Rami Malek among them) it likely hoped for more.
Still, stars really couldn’t save Lynne Ramsay’s latest, psychodrama ‘Die My Love.’ Despite Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in the lead roles, the story of post-partum depression and dysfunction tanked with audiences, earning $2.8 million for eighth.
And that’s still better than the Sydney Sweeney-starring boxing biopic ‘Christy’, which couldn’t even crack the top 10, stumbling to 11th with $1.3 million. It’s the latest flop opening for the actor and could well lead to chatter that her rising star status is under serious threat (at least for now).
Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
There are two films out now based on the true stories of professional fighters: one, ‘The Smashing Machine,’ focuses on its subject (MMA fighter Mark Kerr) and his addiction, while the other, ‘Christy,’ chronicles the career of the first major female boxer, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney), as well as her abusive marriage to her trainer and manager.
‘The Smashing Machine’ doesn’t follow the usual biopic route, hopping through random moments in Kerr’s life in kaleidoscopic fashion but leaving us wondering just who he really was. ‘Christy’ follows the standard biopic formula – the rise, fall, and rise again of its subject in linear fashion – and while it doesn’t break the mold of those tropes, it’s ultimately the more affecting film because of its protagonist, her resiliency, and two incendiary performances from its stars.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Sydney Sweeney and director David Michôd in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
We first meet Christy Salters (later Martin) when she wins a local boxing match for the princely sum of $300 and a jacket. But her parents (Ethan Embry and a quietly vicious Merritt Wever) are more concerned with the rumors that their daughter is dating another local girl named Rosie (Jess Gabor as a fictionalized version of the real person). When Christy gets a call from a regional boxing promoter, it’s a chance to get some space of her own and learn whether boxing is really ‘her thing’ or not.
Enter trainer Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who is at first dismissive of the idea of training a woman until he sees Christy knock a sparring partner out cold. Martin trains Christy and ultimately marries her, but her rocket-like rise to fame and fortune as the first major female boxing star is only matched by the increasingly controlling and abusive behavior of the toxic, tightly-wound Martin, who sees Christy as less a partner and soulmate and more a meal ticket he can shove around.
Christy’s ascent, peak, and eventual downfall are documented by director David Michôd (‘Animal Kingdom,’‘War Machine’) in standard fashion. There are the early scenes of her going-nowhere life, her conflicts with family, training and fighting montages, and eventually financial and drug problems (Christy claims later that Martin got her addicted to coke to keep her under his thumb). There’s nothing exceptional about the way the story is structured and even the boxing scenes, while well-staged, don’t bring anything new to the table.
What gives ‘Christy’ its power is the dark road it goes down in its second half, as the relationship between Christy and the malignant Martin curdles into something dangerous and climaxes in a sequence that is outright shocking. But the seeds for this are planted early on, and not just through the dynamic with Martin: so much of the movie shows how men – from her own loving but hapless father to boxing promoter Don King – condescended to Christy from the start. Martin tells her how to dress, how long her hair should be, and who she can talk to, but her family tells her who she can date and King tells her to sign a contract without having a lawyer read it.
Most biopics that follow the rise/fall/rise formula don’t have a person at their center who went through what Christy Salters when through – being left for dead both professionally and literally at one point. That things get to that point – and yet she manages to literally walk out of it all on her own two feet – gives ‘Christy’ an extra power that gives it an extra boost in a genre that’s been running on fumes for a while.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Ben Foster and Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
Sydney Sweeney is a formidable young actor, and ‘Christy’ may be her best big-screen work to date. She is almost unrecognizable at first, but more than capably projects Christy’s drive, determination, and self-assurance, as well as her fear and inner vulnerability. Sweeney also handles herself quite well in the boxing scenes and bulks up a bit to create Christy’s physical presence. The wigs representing Christy’s hairstyles throughout the years may be the only flaw in her transformation here. Otherwise she is absorbing as this not always likable but still empathetic figure, and brings a raw level of pain to her work.
Seeing Ben Foster’s name in a movie sends a signal that there is an extreme, often repressed and/or unpredictable character afoot, but he ups even his impressive intensity with his immersive work as the vile Jim Martin. From his wheedling initial manipulation of Christy to his later dead-eyed psychosis, Martin goes from distasteful to horrifying over the course of the story and is believable every step of the way. He and Sweeney could both be in the Oscar race if ‘Christy’ gains some traction.
Merritt Wever (‘Nurse Jackie’) plays Christy’s homophobic mother Joyce with an enraging soft-spoken cruelty, while Katy O’Brian (‘Love Lies Bleeding’) delivers some welcome humanity and warmth as boxer Lisa Holewyne. Chad Coleman brings the comic relief as Don King, while we wish we saw more of Christy’s father as played by a sad-eyed Ethan Embry.
‘Christy’ is a boxing picture from a different perspective. It’s not ‘Rocky’ or ‘Raging Bull.’ While the characters in those movies face considerable challenges, they are never denigrated for their sexuality or abused by a borderline psychotic narcissist and degenerate. Christy’s fate is sadly no different from that of so many other women – she just meets it in a profession and climate that is stacked against her.
The movie leaves some questions unanswered: her wicked mother aside, did her father and brother try to intervene, or was she too afraid to tell them? What happened with Rosie, the only person who helped her in her darkest hour? The limitations of the format leave some plot threads unclear and condense a lot of the narrative’s action as it skips from ‘this happened’ to ‘that happened.’ But the bruising battle outside the ring is what ultimately makes ‘Christy,’ if not a knockout, a win on points all the same.
‘Christy’ receives a score of 80 out of 100.
‘Christy’ opens in theaters on November 7th.
What is the plot of ‘Christy’?
Determined to win, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) leaves behind her small-town roots and charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster). But her toughest battles unfold outside the ring — confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become deadly.
The company’s Apple Original Films is hammering out a deal for Sweeney to star in a new take on 1964 French adventure comedy ‘That Man from Rio,’ which is now in development.
The original movie starred Jean-Paul Belmondo and Françoise Dorléac, and follows a young private on military leave who comes to the rescue of his girlfriend, who’s been abducted by thieves and brought to Rio de Janeiro.
An extravagant adventure ensues, and the movie plus its main character served as inspiration to many directors who grew up in the era including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who would later credit it as one of the inspirations for the Indiana Jones character.
What else is Sydney Sweeney working on?
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Sweeney’s current schedule is as packed as anyone’s in Hollywood.
She has shot the Lionsgate adaptation of the novel ‘The Housemaid,’ which has Paul Feig in the director’s chair (due in December) and a biopic of real-life boxer Christy Martin, with Sweeney in the lead role (in theaters next month) .
She’ll also be back on small screens when HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ finally returns next year.
And that’s not including all the potential projects, such as a ‘Gundam’ movie and adaptations of video games such as ‘Split Fiction’ and ‘OutRun.’
When will ‘That Man from Rio’ be on screens?
It’s still too early to predict when the remake might arrive, assuming it even makes it through the thorny wilds of development (and Sweeney has time for it on her busy schedule).
(L to R) Sydney Sweeney and director David Michôd in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Preview:
The first images of Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried in ‘The Housemaid’ are online.
Paul Feig directed the new thriller.
It adapts Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel.
While Sydney Sweeney has seen her rising star hit a bit of turbulence of late, with a few cinematic flops and plenty of controversy over recent adverts, the actor is hoping that some upcoming projects will restore its sheen.
Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Rebecca Sonnenshine (‘The Boys’) adapted Freida McFadden’s bestselling 2022 novel, which follows Millie (Sweeney), who is trying to escape her past.
She accepts a job as a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Nina (Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar, ‘It Ends With Us’).
But what begins as a dream job quickly unravels into something far more dangerous — a sexy, seductive game of secrets, scandal, and power. Behind the Winchesters’ closed doors lies a world of shocking twists…
‘The Housemaid’: the filmmakers speak
(L to R): Amanda Seyfried as Nina and Sydney Sweeney as Millie in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
“The film captures everything fans loved about the book — the secrets, the tension and the twists. We can’t wait for audiences to immerse themselves in the experience.”
And this was Feig’s comment:
“ ‘The Housemaid’ is pure entertainment –– a sexy and surprising rollercoaster ride of a movie that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. This movie is the kind of insane fun that you’ll want to watch over and over this holiday season. So bring your friends and wear your pearls because you’ll definitely be clutching them!”
Finally, here’s Sweeney on her role and the film in general:
“[Millie is] the type of character I love to play: complex, strong and with a little something up her sleeve I can’t wait for fans to see how hard we all worked to bring ‘The Housemaid’ to life.”
When will ‘The Housemaid be in theaters?
Michele Morrone as Enzo in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Backed by Lionsgate, the movie will bring its plot turns to theaters on December 19th. Happy twistmas!
(L to R): Sydney Sweeney as Millie and Amanda Seyfried as Nina in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
(L to R) Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby on the set of ‘Eden’. Photo: Jasin Boland.
We can’t say that ‘Eden’ is a very good movie, but we will say it’s a pretty entertaining one. Based on a true story, the latest from veteran director Ron Howard (‘Thirteen Lives’) is perhaps the most un-Ron Howard-like film of his career – a dark, sometimes brooding, sometimes over-the-top exploration of human beings giving into their worst impulses instead of coming together to help each other.
Noah Pink’s screenplay offers a cynical view of what happens when people try to disconnect from the rest of the world, and the movie’s ultimate insights are not exactly news. It also suffers from uneven pacing and tonal issues. But its intermittently gripping story and solid performances from its topline cast – especially Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas – make it fascinating to watch.
Story and Direction
Ron Howard on the set of ‘Eden’. Photo: Jasin Boland.
In 1929, German doctor Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his partner Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby) settle on a remote atoll in the Galapagos Islands called Floreana, where Ritter aims to create a simpler life away from the brutal post-World War I environment that is fostering fascism around the world. Three years later, having read about Ritter’s exploits – which have made him famous back home – Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Brühl) and his pregnant new wife Margret (Sydney Sweeney), along with Heinz’s son Harry (Jonathan Tittel), arrive on Floreana to follow in Ritter’s footsteps and create their own homestead.
But Ritter and Dore, who are nothing if not world-class misanthropes, are not pleased at the intrusion. “Nothing about our life here is magic,” Ritter warns the idealistic Heinz, adding that “failure is inevitable” for the couple, who make a fairly successful go at it despite Ritter’s admonishments. Yet Ritter, Dore, and the Wittmers are all unhappy at the arrival of the Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas), a debauched denizen of European high society who shows up with her two male lovers and the intent of building an exclusive resort on Floreana.
While the Wittmers, Ritter, and Strauch are all accustomed to the rigors of life on the island, the Baroness is not, and she soon sets a chain of events in motion that find all three groups – Ritter and Strauch, the Wittmers, and the Baroness and her entourage – constantly shifting allegiances and ultimately turning on each other. It’s a scenario that’s not unexpected, and Pink’s screenplay often forces the characters into situations and decisions to drive the intended narrative, rather than let it flow out of the characters organically. The result is a story that moves in fits and starts and often has the characters acting mainly get the story from one pre-determined point to the next.
(L to R) Felix Kammerer, Ana de Armas and Toby Wallace in ‘Eden’. Photo: Vertical.
This leads to a lack of urgency in the proceedings, with only a wild scene in which Margret gives birth by herself – as she is attacked by wild dogs all while the Baroness’ lovers raid the Wittmers’ food supplies – approaching levels of tension and outright horror that suggests the ghastliness of the overall situation. Other events play out largely as one might expect, and the tone veers from one of grim reality to outright camp (as in a late dinner party scene that made us think of a similar sequence in ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ – albeit without the latter’s shocking reveal of what was on the menu).
Howard is more than confident on a technical and visual level (the Australian location shoot makes the isolation of Floreana feel real), but doesn’t seem as sure-footed in handling the tonal shifts or the overall darker nature of the material. The result is a movie in which you know what’s going to happen in the end – but you still want to keep looking to see if the film completely collapses or not (which it almost does in the third act).
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Felix Kammerer, Ana de Armas and Toby Wallace in ‘Eden’. Photo: Jasin Boland.
Everyone’s German accents waver throughout the film (except for Daniel Brühl’s, of course), but the performances are on solid footing for the most part. Sydney Sweeney does the best work overall, downplaying her physical attributes while effectively and subtly charting Margret’s journey from innocence and fear to strength and even a kind of ruthlessness. At the other end of the scale, de Armas is wildly flamboyant and outlandish but far more entertaining than her bland turn in ‘Ballerina’ earlier this year.
Law also gives quite a complicated and over-the-top performance, with his steel chompers (Ritter has his originals removed to prevent infection) and un-self-conscious full frontal nudity, and while Kirby is quite good at portraying Dore’s smirking distaste for others (“They’re clearly suffering…shall we f**k?” she inquires to Ritter at one point, evidently turned on by others’ misery), she doesn’t get nearly enough to do as she should, and is mostly left standing around reacting to the others.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Daniel Brühl and Jude Law star in ‘Eden’. Photo: Vertical.
A film about people separating into their own camps and battling each other while the rest of civilization burns certainly has its relevance in our current situation, although it’s rich coming from the director who introduced the world by and large to JD Vance. And as with that woeful film, there’s a kind of lack of substance underneath the hood of ‘Eden’ that makes it ultimately a shallow exercise.
But nevertheless, it’s neither the complete disaster some folks have made it out to be, nor is it anywhere near a high point on Howard’s filmography. It works as misery porn about good-looking actors getting nasty, deceitful and violent with each other, although that may not be the result its director intended.
‘Eden’ receives a score of 55 out of 100.
Vanessa Kirby stars in ‘Eden’. Photo: Vertical.
What is the plot of ‘Eden’?
A group of disillusioned outsiders abandon modern society in search of a new beginning, settling on a remote, uninhabited island. But their utopian dream quickly unravels as tensions spiral, desperation takes hold, and a twisted power struggle leads to betrayal, violence, and death.
Who is in the cast of ‘Eden’?
Jude Law as Dr. Friedrich Ritter
Vanessa Kirby as Dora Strauch
Daniel Brühl as Heinz Wittmer
Sydney Sweeney as Margret Wittmer
Ana de Armas as Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn
Jonathan Tittel as Harry Wittmer
Richard Roxburgh as Allan Hancock
Toby Wallace as Robert Phillipson
Felix Kammerer as Rudolph Lorenz
‘Eden’ opens in theaters on August 22nd. Photo: Vertical.
