Over the sweet side of the season? This slick thriller is the perfect antidote

While it's a little preposterous, as many of these films are, The Housemaid should be judged in the context of those and other similar efforts. It's slickly made and wildly entertaining, with enough thematic interest to lift it above lesser movies that just go for cheap thrills - though this has its share of those.

There's a touch of another '90s staple, the erotic thriller, and a whole bunch of gaslighting (an old idea that is, sadly, still all too relevant).

Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) is a struggling young New Yorker who's been reduced to living in her car. She applies for a job as live-in housemaid for the wealthy Winchester family - cleaning, some cooking, errands, childminding - and to her relief, she is successful, despite some fabrications about her past.

The house is the kind of massive, specially designed movie abode that's located at the end of a long drive behind a massive gate with a security code. The multi-storey spiral staircase is striking and the place looks immaculate.

But when Millie returns to move in, things are different and a little unnerving. Her cosy attic bedroom locks from the outside (she's given a key, but still). The house that was so clean and tidy is a mess and the bonhomie and solicitude shown by the lady of the house, Nina (Amanda Seyfried), during the interview have vanished.

Now, Nina is full of intemperate and sometimes unhinged demands, complaints, accusations and lies. A speech Nina wrote is missing? Millie must have thrown it out. Millie thought she was supposed to bring daughter Cece (Indiana Elle) home from ballet class? No, the child is staying with a friend, don't you remember?!

And the groundsman, Enzo (Michele Morrone) pops up now and then to glower and utter cryptic warnings.

It's left to Nina's husband Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), who's handsome and charming, to apologise for his wife's behaviour and smooth things over - repeatedly. After a bit of snooping, Millie finds something that might provide some explanation. Not much consolation, though.

But Millie is hiding a secret of her own that's far more serious than a fib or two on her resume.

Although there are some well-played supporting characters, including Nina's bitchy circle of friends and Andrew's frosty mother (Elizabeth Perkins, a bit underused), most of the film rests on the performances of the three leads and they're up to the task.

Sweeney makes Millie somewhat relatable, but she doesn't seem like an innocent.

As for the Winchesters, there's something going on there, too. Seyfried's big eyes can be sunny or scary as required and what, if anything, is behind Andrew's handsome face and easy smile?

Many good thrillers work by dealing with understandable fears and anxieties and The Housemaid is no exception. Moving into an established household is a challenge at the best of times and combining that with employment arrangement adds complications: dealing with expectations and boundaries, the mix of intimacy and formality, what happens when there are issues that have to be addressed. And, not incidentally, everyone just feeling safe and secure.

Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Boys, The Vampire Diaries) adapted Freida McFadden's novel and she and director Paul Feig - whose eclectic career includes Bridesmaids and The Heat - keep things intense and suspenseful. While the goings-on are more than a little out there, everyone plays it straight.

There are bits of voiceover at various points from the two women. It's a device that sometimes feel a little clunky but is efficient enough in adding information and perspective. Theodore Shapiro's ominous score adds to the atmosphere of foreboding and a warning to the squeamish - there's some blood spilled.

This isn't a traditional Christmas treat but if you're a bit over the sweet side of the season, this might provide some welcome relief.