The holidays are a time for feasting, and with “The Housemaid” hitting theaters this week, be sure to save room for dessert.

While it certainly touches on some of the ugliness that exists in the world, this sexy, twisty adaptation of Freida McFadden’s 2022 bestseller of the same name is a big, tasty bowl of mostly empty calories.

Bordering on so-bad-it’s-good territory, “The Housemaid” is the latest female-forward effort from Paul Feig, whose directorial credits include “Bridesmaids,” “A Simple Favor” and the latter’s guilty-pleasure 2025 sequel, “Another Simple Favor.”

This latest guilty pleasure from Feig stars Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried — both of whom serve as executive producers — as, respectively, a housemaid with a murky past and the wealthy woman who hires her to help out around the house and with her daughter in a luxurious home where all is not as it seems.

Early on in “The Housemaid,” we are welcomed into the suburban castle of Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar) and his wife, Nina (Seyfried), as Nina is interviewing Sweeney’s Millie Calloway for the job. The gorgeous spiral staircase, the spacious kitchen, the well-equipped mancave — you could find a worse place to work. Or so one would think.

Although Nina is friendly, Millie is convinced she isn’t getting the gig and resumes an existence that, for reasons that will become clear, involves sleeping in her car. She’s wrong, of course, and quickly finds herself working for the Winchesters in this gorgeous house designed by businessman Andrew, getting her own space in the attic.

There, Nina says, Millie should feel free to hang posters and even play her music loudly — they won’t hear a thing coming out of that room. When Millie pushes her on a desire to be able to open the room’s lone, small, triangular window and asks for a key to the door’s deadbolt, Nina acknowledges how it all looks.

“What kind of monsters ARE we?” she asks rhetorically and with a big smile.

Gulp.

It won’t be the last we see of that smile, a grinning Nina soon popping into view in Millie’s mirror at one early point, an example of screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine (“The Boys”) and Feig’s flirtation with the horror genre. Nina’s not always wearing a happy face, however, the young woman regularly lashing out — near-violently and without warning — at Millie for things that either probably or definitely weren’t her fault.

This makes her a sympathetic figure to Andrew, and, as you’d expect, the two begin to exchange glances and casual touches. Millie even dreams about him, but she tells herself that keeping this job is too important, which is true, and sets about ignoring her urges. That will be tough, though, when Andrew pressures her into going into the city for a night of much-needed entertainment and relaxation while Nina is away with daughter Cece (Indiana Elle, who depicted a young Taylor Swift in the music superstar’s “Willow” video).

It’s a little tricky, at first, to imagine where this is all going, but that changes. And even if you sniff out some or even most of the secrets being kept by “The Housemaid” — like what exactly is the deal with gruff groundskeeper Enzo (Italian singer Michele Morrone, who appeared in “Another Simple Favor”), who not so subtly encourages Millie to stay away from the Winchesters — the fun is the journey. Sure, the flick dips its toes into themes of class and self-image — it’s set in a world where wealthy neighbors and their employees are more than happy to gossip about any cracks in the facades constructed by others — but this primarily is salty, buttery popcorn cinema.

When you’re laughing, you’re not always sure that was the intended response, but, ultimately, you don’t really care.

A lot of those laughs come courtesy of Seyfried (“Mank,” “The Dropout”), who throws herself into a role that is initially delightfully ridiculous but evolves into something at least somewhat more complex.

And Sklenar (“Drop,” “1923”) is perfectly cast as Andrew, whom we can believe is either the incredibly swell, entirely handsome gentleman he seems or, perhaps, something darker and uglier.

And then there’s the very much in-demand Sweeney (“Anyone But You,” “Immaculate”), who, as we’ve come to expect, is fine but far from dynamic. You can’t help but wonder what another performer may have done in the titular role, but Sweeney gets the job done.

Lastly, “The Housemaid” may have benefited from another dash or two of Elizabeth Perkins, another “Another Simple Favor” alum, as Andrew’s regal mother.

Feig, who first gained attention for creating the show “Freaks and Geeks,” which earned a smallish but passionate following, hasn’t delivered a great film here. It’s (almost) undeniably too silly in spots, but it’s a lot more entertaining than at least a couple of his earlier works. (Yes, we’re looking at you, “The Heat” and the talent-squandering 2016 update of “Ghostbusters.”)

Much of what some critics like about the McFadden’s books — the fast pacing and the engaging plotting — and don’t — the thinly developed characters — has made it to the big screen.

Given that the author has penned two “Housemaid” sequel novels and a related short story, we may be in store for more of Sweeney’s Millie down the line, hopefully with Feig at the helm for an adaptation of the second book, “The Housemaid’s Secret.”

If that happens, we won’t anticipate a work of refined cinema, but we WILL have our popcorn ready.

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‘THE HOUSEMAID’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong/bloody violent content, sexual assault, sexual content, nudity and language)

Running time: 2:11

How to watch: In theaters Dec. 19

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