The Housemaid 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Housemaid 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 18, 2026

When films (or film adaptations) like Diabolique and/or Deathtrap become so well known that their "big twists" are generally not "top secret" anymore, it probably presents an unavoidable hurdle for at least tangentially similar entries like The Housemaid to deliver big surprises. Linking the Clouzot and Levin properties may drop a rather broad hint as to at least some sidebar material in The Housemaid, but there are other ways this narrative attempts to deceive its viewers. In that regard, The Housemaid had a literary source which delivered a switch in narrators and perspective in a bit of structural artifice some seem to think began with Gone Girl, but which has a number of notable older examples. A variety of sources often point to Agatha Christie's Poirot mystery The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as a prime early example of at least an unreliable narrator if not one who actually switches, but some religious scholars might want to joke that none other than the Book of Genesis has two at times diametrically opposed "narrators", noted for their use of different divine names among other manifest variations, a dialectic which certainly predates either Christie or Gillian Flynn by a millennia or two or three or four (depending on whom is cited). That perspective "switcheroo" is handled at a bit past the hour mark in this particular enterprise, with a more or less narrated elision that delivers a number of supposedly mind blowing revelations about one of the two focal female characters.

Millie (Sydney Sweeney) is an ex-con on parole who needs a break, and a pretty significant one seems to arrive Deus ex Machina style with a job offer from the superrich Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) to be a live in maid and nanny to Nina, her hunky husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) and the Winchesters' daughter Cece (played mostly by Indiana Elle). What seems to be a godsend soon becomes something decidedly more sinister with what appears to be pretty unhinged behaviors on the part of Nina, though Millie is so desperate for the job she's willing to do pretty much anything to keep it.

The first part of the story offers the basic setup while "introducing" Millie and Nina in particular, with Andrew kind of shunted to the background, at least toward the beginning of the film. There seems to be something "off" about the whole situation from the get go, as perhaps evidenced by Andrew's initial confusion as to what Millie is even doing there. But a number of vignettes at least suggest and in a couple of instances overtly portray Nina as pretty troubled, with Andrew doing his best to mitigate the situation and Millie kind of looking on helplessly. Aside from any Shyamalan adjacent mind blowing material (which this narrative may frankly not have in any case), one slight narrative surprise, at least in terms of where it comes in the running time of the film, appears when Millie and Andrew hook up and Andrew then tells Nina to get out.

And it's here that The Housemaid wants to deliver its "prestige", though the magic here may seem second hand and not especially artful. Suffice it to say that what's been going on with Nina is not as it has been portrayed, though there's no way for a screenplay to handle this supposedly "sudden" shift than to have what amounts to a flashback montage serving as an info dump. In any case, that then sets up a near Grand Guignol final act where Millie finds out Nina was the least of her problems, but where a certain feminist angle (evidently not part of the original book) also enters the fray.

The Housemaid 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

The Housemaid is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Sony CineAlta Venice 2 camera and a 4K DI as relevant data points. This is an appealing 4K presentation, though the film despite its melodramatic subtext is set in a fairly "normal" (if decidedly upscale) environment, and so there may not be a ton of visual "bells and whistles" that this 4K presentation is able to exploit. That said, there are noticeable if subtle improvements in fine detail throughout the 4K presentation, often observably on things like fabric textures or even textures like the paneling in the dreaded attic space. The HDR / Dolby Vision grades also arguably don't have a ton to "play with", but there are some rather interesting highlights that can be seen, including some rather subtle hellish red tones that peek through underneath the production design in the background which aren't as noticeable in SDR and 1080.

The Housemaid 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the video side of things, the Dolby Atmos track on this disc is consistently immersive if only rarely really "showy" in terms of simultaneous height and breadth. Despite the bulk of the film playing out inside the family manse, there's appealing directionality throughout and both sound effects and even some dialogue can help to establish spatial relationships. Theodore Shapiro's score also gets a nice presentation that resides in the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Housemaid 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Both the 4K and 1080 discs in this package sport the same slate of supplements:

• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Feig
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• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Feig and Creative Team


• From Page to Panic: Making The Housemaid (HD; 35:32) is a decent EPK with some good interviews and information on the adaptative process.


• Secrets of the Winchester House: A Housemaid Tour (HD; 11:38) looks at the luxe mansion and some of the other production design blandishments utilized for the film.


• A Peek Inside (HD; 2:06) offers cast and crew providing brief comments about the film.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 8:17)


• Theatrical Trailers (HD; 4:05)

A digital copy is included. The 4K copy sent to me did not have a slipcover, unlike Lionsgate's 1080 release.

The Housemaid 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kind of weirdly for what has in my experience been a relatively well oiled publicity machine, Lionsgate didn't send out 4K editions of this film, which can often mean some kind of technical issue which I frankly did not experience with this disc. The very setting of the film may mean that the 4K presentation isn't going to be gobsmacking enough to "wow" fans, but despite inherent subtleties, the video side of things does enjoy some improvements here and the Atmos audio is also well done. Supplements are enjoyable. Recommended.