I’ve watched The Housemaid twice now, and I’m still lying awake at night trying to figure out if Nina orchestrated everything from the moment Millie walked through that door. Because if she did? That’s some next-level psychological manipulation that makes Gone Girl look like child’s play. But I don’t think it’s that simple.
Let me walk you through my theory, because this movie is way more layered than people give it credit for.
TLDR
Nina's plan likely evolved rather than being predetermined from the start. She initially used Millie as an affair partner to cope with her toxic marriage, but as Andrew's abuse escalated and Nina recognized Millie's desperation and loyalty, she manipulated the situation to make Millie the instrument of Andrew's death, giving herself the perfect alibi while eliminating her abuser.
The Initial Seduction: Opportunistic, Not Calculated
Here’s what I think actually happened: Nina didn’t hire Millie with murder on her mind. She hired a housemaid because she needed help, and Millie happened to be vulnerable, isolated, and desperate. Exactly the kind of person who’d be grateful enough to stay quiet about boundaries being crossed.
That first seduction scene? That felt spontaneous to me. Nina was trapped in a suffocating marriage with a controlling, abusive husband, stuck in a gilded cage with a child she seemed disconnected from. Millie represented something forbidden, exciting, and uncomplicated. Nina was acting on impulse, seeking comfort and control in a life where she had none.
But here’s where it gets interesting: I think Nina is incredibly perceptive. She reads people. And the moment she saw how Millie responded (the loyalty, the willingness to keep secrets, the desperate need to belong), that’s when the wheels started turning.
The Shift: When Opportunity Became Strategy
There’s a specific turning point in the film where you can almost see Nina’s plan crystallizing. It’s when Andrew’s abuse becomes undeniable, when his control tightens, when Nina realizes she’s trapped. She can’t just leave. There’s money, custody, her entire social standing at stake. Divorce would destroy her, or at least that’s what she believes.
But what if Andrew just… disappeared? What if someone else did it for her?
I think Nina started testing Millie. Pushing boundaries. Seeing how far Millie would go out of love, loyalty, or desperation. Every intimate moment, every shared secret, every time Nina made Millie feel special and needed, it was building emotional leverage. Nina was creating a weapon, whether consciously or unconsciously.
The Genius of Plausible Deniability
Here’s what makes Nina so terrifyingly brilliant: even if her plan was deliberate, she built in complete deniability. She never explicitly told Millie to kill Andrew. She didn’t hand her a gun and say “do it.” Instead, she created conditions where Millie would feel like killing Andrew was her own idea, or at minimum, a justifiable action to protect Nina.
Nina positioned herself as the victim (which, to be fair, she genuinely was in many ways). She let Millie witness Andrew’s abuse. She created emotional intimacy that made Millie feel protective. She made Millie believe they were in this together, that they loved each other, that there was a future for them if only Andrew wasn’t in the picture.
That’s not explicit instruction. That’s manipulation so subtle it’s almost invisible.
The Class Warfare Element
We also can’t ignore the class dynamics at play here. Nina is wealthy, educated, and sophisticated. Millie is a formerly incarcerated woman with limited options and no safety net. Nina understands that Millie has everything to lose and nothing to gain by betraying her.
If Millie kills Andrew, who goes to prison? Not Nina. Nina was never there. Nina didn’t do anything. Nina is the grieving widow who’ll inherit everything while Millie goes back to jail, unless Nina protects her, which creates another layer of control and dependence.
Nina weaponized the power imbalance between them. Whether that was her plan from day one or something she realized halfway through, the result is the same: Millie becomes the perfect fall guy.
The Counterargument: Maybe Nina’s Just Surviving
Now, here’s where I’ll play devil’s advocate with myself: What if Nina didn’t plan any of this? What if she’s just an abused woman making desperate decisions in real-time, and we’re giving her too much credit as some criminal mastermind?
Maybe the affair was genuine. Maybe she really did develop feelings for Millie. Maybe when Andrew’s abuse escalated, she panicked and saw an opportunity, but it wasn’t some elaborate long con. It was survival instinct kicking in.
The movie deliberately keeps Nina’s interiority ambiguous. We see everything through Millie’s perspective, which means we’re just as manipulated as she is. We don’t know what Nina’s actually thinking or planning. That ambiguity is intentional.
My Conclusion: Evolution, Not Premeditation
After all this analysis, here’s what I believe: Nina’s plan wasn’t there from the beginning, but it evolved rapidly once she recognized the pieces on the board. She’s smart enough and desperate enough to adapt.
She hired Millie as a housemaid. She seduced Millie out of loneliness and a need for control. But once she saw who Millie was (loyal to a fault, desperate for connection, willing to cross lines), Nina started steering the situation toward a specific outcome.
Did she explicitly plan for Millie to kill Andrew from day one? No. Did she deliberately create conditions where that became the logical conclusion? Absolutely.
Nina’s genius is that she never had to say it out loud. She just had to make Millie feel like it was the only option. And honestly? That’s even more chilling than premeditated murder.
Check out My Fan Theories for all the fan theories / fandom about Netflix movies and series.