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

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.

Millie finds herself working for the Winchesters, 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.

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.

Amanda Seyfried portrays wealthy housewife Nina Winchester in “The Housemaid.” (Courtesy of Lionsgate)

This makes her a sympathetic figure to Andrew, and, as you’d expect, the two begin to exchange glances and casual touches.

Sydney Sweeney portrays Millie Calloway in “The Housemaid.” (Courtesy of Lionsgate)

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,” 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.

Brandon Sklenar, as Andrew Winchester, and Amanda Seyfried, as Nina Winchester, share a scene in “The Housemaid.” (Courtesy of Lionsgate)

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.

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.

(“The Housemaid” contains strong/bloody violent content, sexual assault, sexual content, nudity and language)

‘THE HOUSEMAID’

Rated R. At the AMC Boston Common, Causeway, South Bay Center, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, Landmark Kendall Square and suburban theaters.

Grade: C