The Housemaid won’t make best movie of the year even though it exceeds the minimum threshold for an evening’s entertainment. Although there is more depth to it than may first appear.
The portrayal demonstrates there is no such thing as a one-way road between the powerful and the powerless.
This is an old-school story of retribution, where every violation eventually demands its price. Sweeney’s quiet warning is clear: if you are forced to submit, do not despair. Endure. Watch. And when the moment arrives, turn the tables with ruthless precision.
Maybe, more importantly, be aware that those who you thought were good are bad, those who are crazy are sane. That the power structures and tradeoffs are always in flux.
Sweeney has, is different mediums, sent a message of individual agency. She wants people to see the story of the mouse and the lion, or the tortoise in the hair. She doesn’t shrink from people’s admiration for her attractive physical gifts— but it’s as if she looks you back straight in the eye and says, “now that I’ve got your attention, let me show you a few things.”
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