20 Recent Movies WAY Better Than They Had Any Right To Be

2. The Housemaid

Would it have surprised anyone if Paul Feig's adaptation of Freida McFadden's unashamed airport novel The Housemaid were a mere exercise in chintzy schlock?

But Feig quite sensibly sings from the very same hymn sheet that served him well on A Simple Favor, by leaning into the soap opera absurdity and at times downright camp tone of the story.

That is to say, The Housemaid doesn't take itself nearly as seriously as its marketing might've led you to believe - it relishes in its scandalous steamy thriller narrative, luxuriating in every deeply daft plot twist for maximum entertainment value.

But the film fundamentally wouldn't work without Amanda Seyfried's genuinely superb performance as Nina - she's so thoroughly in step with what the story needs to be from start to finish and is clearly having a blast.

Between its massive $400 million box office haul and unexpected critical praise, it's little surprise that an adaptation of McFadden's sequel novel The Housemaid's Secret is already set to release next year.