There’s nothing more sinister than secrets hidden deep behind closed doors. Lionsgate’s The Housemaid is a chilling ride that explores the very idea that perfection is merely an illusion.
Adapted from Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel, The Housemaid is a dark psychological thriller that explores facades of perfection and warped realities. When a struggling young woman (Sydney Sweeney) accepts a position as a live-in housemaid for an affluent family (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar), she quickly discovers that not everything is as it seems. Twisted secrets bubble to the surface as what seemed like a perfect fit spirals into a nightmare.
Rebecca Sonnenshine is the solo screenwriter for the film, one of a handful entrusted to helm a studio feature on her own. Sonnenshine is an award-winning screenwriter. Her previous accolades include Archive 81, The Boys, Outcast, and The Vampire Diaries. With Lionsgate’s adaptation of the popular thriller already garnering major buzz, Sonnenshine talks about her process and how she drew upon its gothic elements to bring the story to life.
To listen to the complete interview, click here.
You are the solo screenwriter for this film. Before jumping into this project, had you read the book before? And if so, how did you draw inspiration from it going in?
Sonnenshine: I did read it, and I loved it. It just kind of clicked for me. I really love that genre. It’s a little bit of a thriller. It’s a little bit of a modern gothic. It takes place in this kind of very specific location. It had a lot of elements of Hitchcock to it, and so I was very excited to get the chance to adapt it. I think it’s such a fun book with a lot of twists and turns.
Sonnenshine has a background in horror. She shares that what drew her to the adaptation is its modern gothic elements and complex, layered characters. Rather than a traditional horror story, she instead describes the film as a sort of personal horror. Something that is arguably much scarier.
Sonnenshine: The closer things are to your truth or your emotional truth, the scarier they are. I never get scared in movies. That’s sort of one of my things. I’m not easily impressed by horror films. Like, okay, cool, monster, whatever. But things that are very psychological and involve people and trust: that’s scary because you can imagine how destructive that can be to your own life.
When you’re adapting something from an already existing story, there’s a lot of thought going into how to make it your own while also staying true to the source material. For The Housemaid, how did you go about integrating your own personal style into the original story?
Sonnenshine: Millie, she’s kind of really living on the edge of society through a set of circumstances, and that makes you very vulnerable. You have no choice but to trust people, and that is a really scary place to be. So it’s not a normal horror story, but it’s something that is kind of everybody’s worst nightmare. We’ve all had that person who didn’t turn out the way you thought they would. You get close to that person, and then you realize, oh, wait, this is not what I thought it would be. So I think that is one thing I drew upon for sure.
Directed by Paul Feig and starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar, The Housemaid follows a very high-profile cast. In the film, Millie uncovers the dangerous secrets the Winchesters keep behind closed doors. Sonnenshine shares her delight with the performances.
Sonnenshine: I think Millie’s such an interesting character, right? Because she is very smart, but she also believes in standing up for what she believes and fighting for what is right. And that is a strength, but it’s also a weakness.
How does it feel to watch these complex characters that you’ve been studying and conceptualizing finally come to life on screen?
Sonnenshine: Very exciting. When I’m writing, I’m not picturing anyone in particular because I want them to seem real people to me. I don’t want them to seem like actors. I want them to seem like people that I might know or interact with so that I can really feel their emotional complexities. Once you see these actors in the role, though, you think no one else could ever play these roles.
Sydney has this kind of unexpected vulnerability and warmth to her that we don’t all the time think of her as having, but she’s so relatable. She’s so vulnerable. She’s someone you can root for. And the same for Amanda. You can feel her strength. She’s a real chameleon as an actress. She can pretty much do anything. It’s a really kind of exciting and unexpected performance.
In the film, Millie accepts a position as a live-in housemaid for the Winchesters and is put through a lot, to say the least. In a hypothetical situation, if you were in Millie’s shoes, how would you deal with it?
Sonnenshine: She’s really in a tight situation for a variety of reasons. Younger, I probably would’ve done the same thing. As an older person with some years of experience under my belt, I probably would find a way to confront the problem head-on instead of trying to make it work. I think that’s just sort of something that comes with experience, that I would find a way to take control of the situation by using a little bit more direct confrontation.
With The Housemaid being adapted from a bestselling novel, it has built a very dedicated fanbase over the years. Many of us tend to have certain stories that stick with us. I’d love to know, what book or books have been very impactful in your life?
Sonnenshine: I love books, and I read a lot. It was my first form of entertainment before I ever saw films, really. I read books, and they really come alive in my mind. Frankenstein is my favorite book of all time. It’s so inspirational. I’m a genre writer, and here’s Mary Shelley, kind of inventing the genre, which was then taken over by men. It’s an incredibly complex story and incredibly cinematic in a time before cinema even existed. So that has been a very impactful book.
With an already existing audience comes certain expectations. Taken from McFadden’s wildly popular book series, the case for The Housemaid is no different. Sonnenshine explains why it’s important to maintain the integrity of a story when tackling adaptations.
Sonnenshine: When you go to adapt something, it’s all about finding moments that can evoke that emotion. Sometimes it means changing things slightly, but you’re definitely capturing the essence of what that was in the adaptation. What is the emotional truth of this? What is the cinematic excitement of it? How do you put all those on a page so that the product will really seep into an audience’s mind and give them the same feeling that you had reading the book?
Freida McFadden has said she is blown away by what you all did with the movie. How does it feel to get that positive feedback from the author?
Sonnenshine: It means everything. I’m always worried about how someone will feel. When there’s somebody who’s a living author and you’re adapting their work, you’re condensing, you’re changing their material to fit a different medium, I always hope that they’ll be excited about it or happy with it. So it means the world to me that she’s a fan of the movie and of the adaptation.
Three other books complete The Housemaid series, continuing Millie’s story and opening the door for more on-screen action. Sonnenshine leaves off by teasing the possibility of future film adaptations.
Sonnenshine: I think that’s all up to the audience. If the audience really responds to this and they love what they see, then I think there’s always the possibility that it can continue as a series. I guess we’ll see.
Watch The Housemaid Trailer Here:
Twisted secrets, deception, and the facade of perfection all come to fruition in Lionsgate’s The Housemaid. Sonnenshine is also the showrunner and executive producer of Netflix’s reimagining of Little House on the Prairie, which is set for release sometime in 2026. The Housemaid arrives in theaters on December 19.
