A week after the wave Avatar 3a little counter-programming for the end-of-year holidays with the theatrical release of The Maid on this New Year’s Eve. A calendar choice that some will consider daring, but which can be amply defended by its subject. It’s not just a female thriller, no, we’re talking about the adaptation of the novel by Freida McFadden published in 2022, became a global bestseller. In France, it is estimated that 630,000 copies will be sold in 2024. This is 500,000 copies more than A Prisoner’s Diary by Nicolas Sarkozy.
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And to take care of the porting to the big screen, the task was entrusted to Paul Feig – no connection with Kevin Feige, it’s not spelled the same, the man behind it L’Ombre d’Emily and its sequel, My best friends or even Last Christmas (i gave you my heart). In the leading roles, Amanda Seyfried and above all Sydney Sweeneywhose maddening public popularity will not have panicked the box office this year, the beauty having followed up with flop after flop.
Desperate for work, Millie (Sweeney) thinks she has the chance of a lifetime when she is hired by the Winchesters as a full-time housekeeper. A dream job that offers him a roof over his head and food in the luxury of the villa. Except something is wrong and Nina Winchester’s (Seyfried) behavior becomes more and more moody and aggressive and only her husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) seems to support Millie. Secrets, manipulations, seduction… the young woman is not at the end of her surprises.
The successful adaptation of a catastrophic bestseller?
It is appropriate to address the subject of the desired target. It is obvious that The Maid is primarily aimed at readers and fans of McFadden’s work who want to see this thriller with a hint of eroticism brought to the screen. As such, we weren’t really the intended audience, having not opened a single page of the original. However, critics of this one seem to agree that McFadden’s writing is not the most flamboyant. Recently, theThe author personally declared that the feature film was better than her work, while being faithful in its story. Therefore, considering our experience at the cinema, we can easily imagine the quality of the novel…
It must be admitted, the result caused me and a few colleagues to laugh a lot. The first was when we realized that only an hour of the film’s two hours had passed, while we were hoping to get closer to the end. The others are more the result of the writing itself. The Maid seems to be a crossing between the Gone Girl de Gillian Flynn et les Fifty Shades by El Jamesbut having neither the suspense of one, nor the sulphurous character of the other. Novels or films for that matter.
If it is difficult to talk about it in more depth without revealing yourself the main twistwe will simply specify that it can be guessed after two scenessubtlety not being one of the weapons used by Paul Feig and his screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine. Except that this twist comes way too late in the feature filmleaving the viewer to ask the question of when rather than what. For now, L’Ombre d’Emily operated on a similar principle, with more presence. That’s saying something.
Especially since the film (and the novel therefore) likes to take his time to delay the inevitableas if it were important to cover up already well-revealed tracks. Nina’s crazy sequences will be repeated, the discreet glances between Millie and Andrew too, and we have the feeling thatwe move forward in slow motion. At the height of the general torpor, the director has fun extend each scene, emphasizing heavily on an atmosphere that doesn’t take. Only the last part manages to ignite, unfortunately at the cost of the coherence and intelligence of the characters.
A lazy housekeeper
McFadden’s account is problematic on many aspects, some of which are fortunately corrected by the Feig / Sonnenshine duo. In particular, we can blame him a facade sorority where the alchemy between the two heroines absolutely does not takes. The dialogues and situations make it look like The Maid to a sort of TV movie on a private channel, on a Sunday afternoon. A very old-fashioned appearancesurprising in a recent novel.
The basic material being incredibly weak, we must therefore count on the talent of its performers to succeed in saving the furniture. For his part, Brandon Sklenar handles the changes in his character very well. However, the lifeline is called Amanda Seyfried. The actress must deal with a character written as a definition of madness, with a tendency to hysteria, which regularly takes her into the realm of overacting. Except that she manages to exist on this soapy board by giving body and soul to it, even bringing a sort of saving second degree. Yes, she constantly exaggerates, but she does it perfectly.
Or the complete opposite of his partner. Sydney Sweeney plays like she just discovered the box office of her Christie, with a blatant lack of desire. Whether we are at the heart of the thriller or in scenes with charged eroticism, the actress does not really seem present, torn between the pouting pout or the taken aback look. Even when events get out of control, she seems to treat them like a Thursday, creating a situational and emotional gap with his comrades. The last scene of the work will complete a ridiculous performance around an equally ghostly character.
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The Maid thus presents itself as a respectful adaptation of the novel intended for millions of readers, who will not feel betrayed when viewing it. The major problem then comes from the novel itself, presented as a sulphurous thriller in the vein of what was done a few decades ago and which would have forgotten its part of modernity in the process. So there are only two thorns in the side of the film: Freida McFadden and Sydney Sweeney. Too bad they are also its reason for being.
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