By Soraya Colucci, Year 11
By definition, social inequalities are the disparity between different social classes through various means like wealth, gender, power, living conditions, etc.
“The Housemaid” is a famous thriller book written by Freida McFadden, that was adapted into a movie, in 2025. Although the movie is quite faithful to the book, some scenes like the ending were changed for a more cinematic feel.
The story follows a young woman, Millie, who is in desperate need of money and ends up living against all odds as a nanny/housekeeper for the seemingly perfect Winchester family, where Nina, Andrew, Cece and herself live in perfect harmony. At least for a day. By then, the true dynamic of the Winchester family is revealed and Millie is trapped between her urgent need to achieve a stable income and the unjust way she’s being treated. Eventually, she manages to figure out a way to overthrow Nina and take her, but at what cost?
Throughout this story, we learn many things about social inequality, which raises many ideas through the characters’ interactions, the abusive relationships, and that appearances are not to be trusted.
Firstly when Millie meets Nina for the first time, she is the only one to interact with her in a respectful manner as she sees her as someone powerful, elegant, and wealthy. When she later meets Andrew and Cece she also reduces her first impression of them to their appearances and status, Andrew’s gender also gives him more power over Millie as he is the head of the house and uses seduction to make Millie depend on him, making him even more powerful in their relationship. Andrew also manipulates the whole town into making Nina seem crazy and mentally unstable. As a result of his social standing, everyone believes him. The women all fall for his charm and as a successful, wealthy businessman he is at the top of the social ladder, bringing great inequality and injustice to all of the women he had a relationship with, including Nina and Millie.
In addition, Cece is much higher on a societal scale than Millie, even though she is a child. In contrast to Millie, Cece grew up in a supportive and encouraging environment, whereas Millie also grew into a private boarding school, but her social environment was exhausting, making her end up with a tiring life that required her to survive and not live. Throughout the story, we see Cece grow through flashbacks and present-time scenes, showing us the similarities between her and Millie and their different treatments, solely depending on their status.
In conclusion, “The Housemaid” explores social inequalities through the characters and their relationships, like Andrew, Nina, and Millie, but also in everyday life and recurring cycles.
