I started watching The Housemaid on the plane this morning because I have been wanting to see it ever since I deemed the book one of my top four books of 2026 (check out my Rankings tab for the full breakdown). I had heard mixed reviews on the film, spanning mostly from "Sydney Sweeney is a terrible actress" to "Sydney Sweeney is really hot". I – a cinephile – am choosing to watch it with a more analytical view than my predecessors.
Growing up the phrase "the book is always better than the movie" was jammed down my throat by English teachers and other women over the age of 30. I believe it was an act of defiance that led me to abstain from reading books for the better part of a decade – while ironically not really watching more movies. In their defense, it never sounded like they were bashing movies, but more that they were propping books onto this pedestal. And as someone who was more concerned with the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning rivalry than Pride and Prejudice, I didn't particularly care for this claim. So – without actually reading books and honestly – without really watching movies – I utterly renounced this proclamation.
I held this belief for years. Decades, some might even say (though those people would be wrong).
In 2025, I made it a mission to watch a lot of movies. Not because I had lots of free time – in fact I was quite pressed for free time, leading most of these viewings to occur in multiple doses. I wanted to watch movies because – just like watching "the game" – they are such an easy breeding ground for conversation. And, having just moved to New York City and leaving my battalion of friends and family back in Virginia – I was in the market for male friendship. So I churned through the classic guy movies – The Dark Knight, The Departed, Fight Club, anything by Scorsese – you name it, I probably know enough about it to be dangerous.
In 2026, the mission shifted – let's crack open some books. Not in place of movies, but more in place of Twitter, Instagram, and other time-wasting apps. I'm up to about 30 this year – most of which do not have corresponding movies. But The Housemaid reignited my vigor for this audacious claim made first by my third-grade teacher back in 2008 – that the book is always better than the movie. And after watching The Housemaid, I have a declaration. It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong, and I am that big man.
The barrage of liberal women who, for so many years, demanded I believe that the book is better than the movie – were correct.
But my counterpoint – duh?
It really comes down to a cost-benefit analysis of our most valuable resource: our time. I would much rather spend two hours consuming media than spend eight to ten putting my mind to exercise. Obviously the book is going to be better – the author has 350 pages of opportunity to paint a word picture in your mind. You get internal monologues, hints that movies don't give, and the opportunity to forget those hints along the way. From a storytelling point of view, books have the obvious advantage.
Take The Housemaid for example – something Freida excels at is leaving every chapter on a cliffhanger. I read the book in a full chair, but the entire time I only needed the edge. I was left on 60 different cliffhangers. In the movie – even from the eyes of an objective third-party viewer that doesn't know what happens – there are only three or four. You also get insights into the lead's internal monologue, lots of mentions of "I'm sure everything will be just fine" or oppositely, "for some reason something just doesn't feel right." Not to agree with my aforementioned friend on his Sydney Sweeney take – but she doesn't exactly portray these emotions with her pensive looks past the camera.
But going back to my comment about resources – everyone's time is valuable. I have things to do and people to see. I can't dedicate 8 hours of my Sunday night to cracking open a thriller novel and seeing what happens. And after the draining week I (probably) had, I don't want to do that either. What I can do? I can pay $4 for a movie on Amazon Prime – ~20% the cost of a paperback book – and let that take me to sleep for 120 minutes. I don't have to think, I don't have to take breaks.
And if it ends and I didn't like it? I only wasted two hours of my life and $4. I didn't kill 8 to 10 hours; I didn't spend $20 – both of which have no resale value. It was a low-stakes event; the downside is low and the upside is high. A book, on the other hand, has a lower downside and a lower upside as well. When I think about truly awesome movies – The Prestige, Top Gun, Whiplash – the thrill I get each time I watch those is astronomically higher than any thrill I've gotten from reading a thriller book.
This is not to dunk on books – in fact, I think it has been quite the opposite. I love books, that's why I'm tracking toward 40 completed in 1H26. In a vacuum, the book probably is better than the movie. But would I rather spend 2 hours of my time and four of my dollars watching the work of thousands of people that may leave me in absolute awe, or would I rather spend several days completing a work made by one person that I may or may not like, and even when I do like it I won't remember it in a few months and won't be able to talk about it with my boys? The choice is obvious.