If there’s a young actress with their star in the ascendancy it’s Sydney Sweeney.

She began in television, getting a good role in the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale, then in the miniseries Sharp Objects, before blowing up in the first season of HBO’s Euphoria, in a role that certainly got her recognition.

The big screen has been more challenging however, appearing in a rare, bona fide Marvel turkey, 2024’s Madame Web for one.

Her role in this psychological thriller however, has seemingly given her some Hollywood clout.

Driving past the gates of a swish New York State house is Millie (Sweeney). She’s there to meet Nina (Amanda Seyfried), for an interview about becoming the new housemaid for herself and hubby Andrew (Brandon Sklenar). Millie may have bent the truth once or twice on her CV, being desperate to get a job, seeing that she’s out on parole.

Luckily for her, Nina takes an instant shine to her, and she gets the job, which also includes looking after her daughter Cece (Indiana Elle).

But it is indeed too god to be true, as Nina isn’t as friendly as she seems, and soon becomes a nightmare boss.

Millie isn’t aware however, that Nina has good reason for her extreme behaviour, and perhaps there is more going on than she realises.

Having proven his directing chops helming comedies, such as Bridesmaids, Paul Feig has struggled to maintain a string of success in recent years, as he takes on his first thriller.

It’s based on Freida McFadden’s 2022 novel of the same name, which delves into the family’s secrets behind closed, wealthy doors.

Feig does well with his characters, which in truth are borderline caricatures, but they serve their purpose. Sweeney certainly looks the part, in a generic fashion, as Seyfried – who hasn’t made it big in film in her own rights either – seemingly relishes the quirkiness of playing mom Nina, and hams it up to an entertaining standard.

Oh and a small mention for eye candy Sklenar and his monotone hubby performance. From it you can presume that Feig had little time for him, concentrating on his leading ladies, and simply wound him up and let him trundle into scenes with a clichéd mindset keeping him going.

At just over two hours however, the film is blatantly too long, and there’s just too much space with very little happening in it. Oh and some very generic sex scenes, that feel as if they’ve just been cut and pasted into the film. This effects the pacing, which is undoubtedly sluggish, with the second act needing to kick in far earlier than it does.

And when it does arrive, it’s predictable, which makes the twist within it, well, less twisty. But it just about satisfies its female skewed audience, with its dumb fun, popcorn ending.

It proves to be a much needed box office hit for Feig however, but in truth that will mostly be down to the co-stars performances, and not his perfunctory direction.

It looks like all three will go again, thanks to its success, for what will no doubt be the disappointing sequel, that’s been greenlit by Lionsgate, for the adaptation of McFadden’s second book in the series, The Housemaid’s Secret, which we wager won’t be worth waiting for.

But hey, a win’s a win, and Sweeney now has her foot firmly on the Hollywood ladder; it will be interesting to see where she goes (other than its sequel) from here.