The Maid is Netflix’s latest horror film directed by Lee Thongkham and starring Ploy Sornarin, Savika Chaiyadej, Theerapat Sajakul and Kannaporn Puangtong in lead roles.
A bit of a confusion
The Maid follows Joy, a housemaid to a very wealthy family. She’s tasked to take care of the household’s youngest member, Nid, and also take care of other things. However, strange things start happening as soon as she starts working, but the plot twist surprises both Joy and the audience.
The Maid started off with the usual in horror movies – a scary doll, jumpscares, dark houses – the works. And it immediately made me feel like it’s going to be boring. But oh boy, was I wrong. So, the start is cliched. There’s a supposedly haunted doll which is embarrassing to look at. It’s funny when it tries to be scary and there’s an actual monkey that takes its place sometimes which is extremely cute.
However, after that first sequence, the movie frankly just forgets about the ghost doll and we never hear any explanation as to what happened with it, or why it was included. We then move on to Joy, a woman starting a new job. She’s sweet and innocent, but seems to have a difficult past. We get to know bits and pieces throughout the movie, and honestly, it’s great. Her backstory is as scary as her (that we see later on), and it’s fun to watch.
There’s also Uma and Nirach, the owners of the house, who are cold towards everyone around them. The movie doesn’t waste time to introduce the ghost, who is anything but scary. She’s a former maid who tries really hard to jump out of places and induce scares, but it all falls flat, and is hilarious sometimes.
The movie, however, takes a very scary turn very soon. Around the half-time mark, there’s a scary revelation that is, well, more disturbing than ghosts. And then it quickly moves on to more disturbing news that’s, honestly, terrifying. I’m not going to get too deep into it, because it’s gonna spoil the whole movie, but The Maid’s twist is pretty good.
Chop-chop
The Maid is a little confused about what it wants to be – a horror or a revenge story. However, the ending 20 minutes is a bloodbath and I am here for it. I can’t say the same about a major chunk of the first half. It’s kinda boring, and people just look mildly curiously in the distance but we don’t see or feel their dread or tension.
However, Ploy Sornarin as Joy is great. The whole movie is on her shoulders and she pulls it off brilliantly. Her portrayal of someone disturbed is great and terrifying. She pulls it off with finesse. So is Kannaporn Puangtong as Ploy. She’s great as the previous housemaid, but not so much as the ghost of the previous housemaid. She and Savika Chaiyadej’s Uma are so beautiful though. Speaking of Uma, Chaiyadej as the scorn wife and mistress of the house. The three ladies really make The Maid worth watching.
Summing up: The Maid
There are a lot of cliched bits in The Maid. However, although I had made up my mind because of the doozy first half that it was going to be not-so-great, the movie pleasantly surprised me. Its enjoyable second half makes up for most of the bad bits in the movie, especially that last 20 minutes.
If you’re looking for scares that will keep you up at night, this probably isn’t the one for you. But, as a revenge story or a thriller, I’d say it’s pretty great.
The Maid is streaming on Netflix right now.
I really enjoyed it too. I was expecting something run-of-the-mill. This movie is a hoot!