Sydney Sweeney's R-rated 131-minute Thriller Is Officially Hbo Max's Biggest Streaming Hit

Lionsgate

Aside from the unlikely smash hit that was "Anyone But You," Sydney Sweeney hasn't had the easiest time at the box office. But 2025's "The Housemaid" was an undeniable success and quickly became known as one of Sweeney's best movies. Now, the sexy psychological thriller is finding renewed success on HBO Max, where it's currently topping the movie charts.

With "The Housemaid," director Paul Feig and writer Rebecca Sonnenshine delivered a stellar adaptation of Freida McFadden's 2022 novel of the same name. Sweeney stars as a formerly incarcerated young woman named Millie Calloway, who takes a job as the live-in maid for Amand Seyfried's Nina Winchester and her family. Suffice it to say that some absolutely wild stuff goes down as Millie becomes more acquainted with the Winchesters and finds herself drawn to Nina's husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar).

The film hit theaters in December 2025, earning positive reviews from critics and making a tidy $400.5 million against a $35 million budget. That's a hit by any standard, ensuring Lionsgate quickly green-lit a sequel. While audiences wait for the next installment in Sweeney's steamy saga, the original movie is having a resurgence on HBO Max, where it's currently ruling the streamer's movie rankings just days after hitting the service.

Lionsgate

"The Housemaid" made its streaming debut on Starz back in April 2026 before transitioning to HBO Max on October 9, 2026. It hasn't taken long for HBO Max subscribers to pounce on the film like an aggrieved maid exacting vengeance on her tormentor.

Per streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol, "The Housemaid" hit number one on the HBO Max movie charts in the United States on October 11, 2026, and remains in the top spot as of October 12. It even managed to topple Kane Parsons' "Backrooms," which has been enjoying a long run at the top of that same chart for some time now. What's more, "The Housemaid" leaped over "Evil Dead Burn," which has also been dominating the movies chart since its October 2, 2026 debut on the streamer.

Whether "The Housemaid" will have a similarly lengthy run remains to be seen, but it's a great start to the film's second streaming run after its Starz tenure. Sadly, fans will have to wait until December 2027 for the next movie in the series, but hopefully enthusiasm for the saga remains high until then. 

The "Housemaid" sequel also faces a major problem in that Amanda Seyfried was the best thing about the first movie and hasn't yet been confirmed to return for the follow-up. Indeed, the book on which the sequel is based, "The Housemaid's Secret," sees Millie Calloway working for a new family and does not feature Nina Winchester, so we'll see whether Paul Feig and Lionsgate find a way to work Seyfried into the mix. For now, however, the studio can be glad that the first movie is proving popular on HBO Max, which alongside its box office success bodes well for the franchise.