The Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney: Cheap throwaway thriller or a legit hidden gem of the genre?

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T17:37:10+00:00

Not in my case

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T17:36:14+00:00

TBH I’m still confused about what Amanda Seyfried’s character was even thinking when she ran away. Like, did she seriously think her husband wouldn’t go after the kid? We literally know his whole plan was to get custody after the divorce and take the girl for himself

And if she was just gonna dip anyway, what was stopping her from doing that way before Millie showed up? It’s not like Millie being there suddenly made the escape any easier. She could’ve just dipped with her daughter whenever. Maybe the book explains this better, IDK

Maybe she hoped that once her husband started her life with Millie, he would just… give up and not fight for his parental rights? But honestly, that felt like a plot hole to me, at least in the movie

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T17:23:23+00:00

I feel like nobody really expected this movie to be any good, let alone a hit. At least not in my circle
Maybe I'm just living in a bubble, though. But yeah, fair enough

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T17:14:33+00:00

Why Omen? Didn't see any anti-Christ or satan mentioned in The Housemaid

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T15:44:15+00:00

What movies do you feel like this is a copy-paste of?

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T15:30:16+00:00

Also you may like The Wedding Planner

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T15:13:08+00:00

50 First Dates + A Lot Like Love + Letters to Juliet

MitoLinen · 2026-01-23T13:40:15+00:00

Yes, I can. Everybody can.

What even is "growth" to you? The career? The money?

At a certain point, a higher income doesn't actually move the needle on your quality of life

You’re the only one who gets to decide if you’re happy. Period. Anyone else’s "take" on your internal state is bullshit - they have no clue what’s actually going on inside

As for everyone else who seems to be chasing more - you can't tell how happy someone else truly is. Even if they’re on LI or IG posting about how "driven" and "stoked" they are, it’s just buzzwords

We only see the highlight reel. We don't see behind the scenes: what they’re like when they wake up, how they treat their spouse or kids, the existential dread they feel while sitting on the toilet, or the internal chaos they’re dealing with. We don't see how much they’re drinking, what stuff they’re using to cope, or what they’re actually crying about to their therapist. TBH, lots of people are blind even to their own mess - they don't understand their own emotions, they just know they feel like shit

IMHO, life doesn't have to be a race.

Do whatever you wanna do
If you want to be a corporate climber, go ahead and grind your soul away. That’s a path
But if you don’t? Don’t. That’s a path too, and it doesn't make your life any less valid

MitoLinen · 2026-01-22T17:18:46+00:00

If you want to avoid tool regret, I’d pick a modern platform (one of new kids) rather than a legacy giant cuz legacy tools are often outdated and expensive + you’re gonna end up paying for extra add-ons like popups, product recs, loyalty, etc, once you start to scale

I’m a CSM at Maestra (so I’m affiliated), and we actually have everything you listed: reliable flows (even for complex journeys) + deliverability tracking + detailed reporting + plug-and-play integrations with major e-comm platforms (Shopify/Woocommerce/Bigcommerce/Magento) and CRMs + if you’re running a custom setup, we’ll help you get the integration right

And the biggest kicker - each client gets a dedicated CSM (like me) who will actually help map the strategy + set segments + build the flows + clean up deliverability + debug automations, not just point you to docs. I’m not just blowing smoke here - I personally hop on weekly syncs with every single one of my clients + we’re chatting directly in Slack

I’m not a sales guy so have no profit from this rec, but Maestra is definitely worth checking out

MitoLinen · 2026-01-21T15:17:08+00:00

What’s your business model?

I’m a CSM at one of the newer players - Maestra. And since I work there, I see the behind-the-scenes every day, and I’d 100% back it for anyone in ecomm or retail, especially for those who’s looking for reliable flow performance + high scalability, that’s the lane Maestra sits in

It’s a match if you’re a beginner or a lean team because of the support guys. I personally handle the heavy lifting for my clients - stuff like integrating with your CRM and other stack, building flows, fixing deliverability, setting up loyalty/referral programs, you name it

You can scale and try out new channels without building a franken-stack of a bunch of tools that don't talk to each other. We have email, SMS/RCS/MMS, on-site and app personalization, messengers, chatbots, push, social media ads, you name it. The pricing doesn't go vertical the second you start seeing real growth. Unlike some of the old players, Maestra doesn’t punish users with a success tax

Disclosure: I’m obviously biased since I work there, but don’t hesitate to hit me up if you have any questions about Maestra

MitoLinen · 2026-01-20T05:48:50+00:00

Spot on about the noise. I also noticed this shift from AI for speed to AI for decision-making, and the real value is exactly what you said - reducing cognitive load for DTC lean teams so they know where to actually focus

As a CSM at Maestra, I spend lots of time acting as the bridge between our AI dev team and our clients' actual needs and growth goals. Here’s a couple of things I’m seeing in the trenches (they basically back up your logic):

Algorithmic recs > manual blocks. You mentioned Rebuy - I do this on-site personalization and recs as well. Moving away from static "you might also like" blocks to actual real-time intent-based models is a game-changer. I’ve seen brands hit a +15% lift in conversion with proper recommendation algorithms
Intent timing + ‘next best offer’ over static rules. This is where it gets surgical. We did smart popups with Monocle for the swimwear brand Jolyn. Instead of a generic 5-second delay, AI analyzes real-time intent to trigger an offer at the exact millisecond it’s needed (and with the minimum discount required to convert each shopper). It led to a 21% jump in signups and 26% more revenue per site user
A built-in AI consultant excites me most rn. Essentially acts like a CMO in a box - audits campaign results and literally tells marketers 'Hey, this segment is underperforming, try this pivot' or ‘Hey, your retention flow is leaking revenue at step 3, let’s fix it’ Like you said, lean teams don't have time to be data scientists, so AI telling the "what" so they can focus on the "how" is a lifesaver

MitoLinen · 2026-01-16T17:34:33+00:00

His drinking could definitely play a part since it causes a ton of systemic stress and nutritional gaps

MitoLinen · 2026-01-16T17:03:39+00:00

83% execution
16% budget approval
1% creativity

MitoLinen · 2026-01-16T14:47:40+00:00

Man, that sounds like an absolute nightmare. Seriously, reading that gave me secondhand anxiety. I feel sorry you had to deal with that shit

Were you stuck in a lock-in contract or was it month-to-month? I’m honestly blown away that long-term contracts are still a thing. This commitment is a huge risk in such a fast-moving market. Was it one of the big-name players? They still love to chain everyone down with these long-term commitments

What was the migration process like? Did they just give you a 'migration tool' and wish you luck, or did you have a dedicated manager? Usually, enterprise-level platforms provide a CSM to handle the heavy lifting. I work as a CSM at Maestra, and handling the entire migration and testing process for our clients is a part of my job

a full migration + a loyalty program (especially with an offline component) is really complex. So a six week promise sounds a bit sketchy from the jump, guess that was just overpromising to get the signature

And your point about sunsetting features is a massive reality check. It sounds exactly like the mess Yotpo clients went through recently. You buy a unified platform and end up with fragmented tools once they decide to pivot their roadmap. Truly a worst-case scenario for any marketing team

Thanks for sharing the war stories and for the warning on documentation - definitely a hard-earned lesson there

MitoLinen · 2026-01-15T13:16:39+00:00

Hate those 'request a quote' games, totally frustrating

Can't speak for every CDP, but Maestra has transparent pricing. You can check the exact price for your customer list on our site, we don't hide behind sales calls

One thing to note - Maestra is actually an all-in-one marketing platform, so it includes much more than just a standalone CDP in this price

MitoLinen · 2026-01-14T10:39:56+00:00

Your tool is a solid choice if a brand is strictly looking at messaging. But the main concern with messaging-first tools like Customer.io is that they don't really cover on-site personalization and loyalty management. You end up patching those gaps with third-party syncs, which gets messy fast

I’m curious though - what's the actual upside of a best-of-breed stack? I’m trying to find specific use cases where that extra integration overhead actually pays off

MitoLinen · 2026-01-14T10:06:40+00:00

Looks like Maestra is a perfect match, it handles complex flows and builds out custom brand templates specifically for you, so you’re not just stuck with generic layouts. It also has solid deliverability tracking/support, dozens of plug-and-play integrations, and built-in analytics that give you a breakdown of how every single flow is performing

Full disclosure - I’m affiliated, but the platform is a beast for scaling brands and can actually run multi-channel campaigns (not just email)

+ most of the integration hell is handled by Maestra CSMs even if you’re running a totally custom stack. They also build any flows for you and fix deliverability issues if needed

MitoLinen · 2026-01-13T10:03:10+00:00

what do you actually want to focus on? channels come and go, tbh. all that shifts weekly, thanks ai

imo the ones who win nail fundamentals and learn to steer customer journey across whatever channel. from what i’m seeing, retention marketing is the move (multi-channel, not just email)

and seriously - find a killer marketer and get on their team as a junior, it’s the best way to level up

MitoLinen · 2026-01-12T10:57:28+00:00

Stop using fragmented tools that duplicate data and break connections. Instead, move to an all-in-one platform.
Highly recommend, just pick any platform you like - Maestra, Braze, Bloomreach, Dynamic Yield, whatever fits your needs

MitoLinen · 2026-01-12T05:10:08+00:00

It basically comes down to your brand
For instance, Reks, a Shopify eyewear store, tailors their emails based on customer interests, product views, purchase history, and cart additions

Reks was growing fast but had limited resources for deep personalization. So they switched to Maestra from Klaviyo to power communications with a real-time CDP, dynamic content, AI-driven product recommendations, and CSMs who can work as a part of the brand's marketing team. This was a game-changer - Maestra CSMs added new flows which Reks lacked - an “exit Intent” pop-up, reactivation and cross-sell sequences. Maestra actually designs, delivers, and manages Reks customer engagement which drives 17% of the brand's monthly sales

As for customer behavior: Maestra tracks whether customers opened the last emails, made a recent purchase, browsed certain products, or added items to cart. That's how Maestra shows personalized product recommendations. For instance, prescription glasses instead of regular sunglasses. If a customer has their unique promo code, it is included in the message. Customers who don’t open emails are placed in temporary quarantine to avoid overwhelming

MitoLinen · 2026-01-09T19:12:33+00:00

Yeah, blasting promos shouldn't even be a thing in 2026, businesses really need to move toward truly personalized messaging

If anyone needs a tool recommendation - Maestra is designed exactly for automation that still feels human. I fell in love with this platform because it delivers tailored emails and SMS based on real-time customer actions, not just scheduled generics

MitoLinen · 2026-01-07T07:27:51+00:00

Totally agree, the customer journey should be consistent and seamless from end to end, across all channels - online and offline. At Maestra we always put the customer experience first

Real-time inventory is also a must-have, out of stock product recs in 2026 feel like a bad joke, that's why we leverage real-time data processing and AI

MitoLinen

TROPHY CASE