The Housewife Review: Tye Sheridan Career-Best Performance In Captivating Thriller [TIFF]

The Housewife is a clever film that knows not to stretch its initial mystery on for very long, and the cast are game for the exciting turns it takes.

Published Sep 11, 2026, 2:17 PM EDT

Josh is a film critic and journalist with over nine years of experience in the entertainment industry. Entering the field at just 17 years old, Josh went on to make his own website, The HoloFiles, and social media brand Star Wars Holocron, the most followed Star Wars fan account on Twitter/X.

A member of both the Chicago Indie Critics and the Hollywood Critics Alliance, Josh has covered major industry events including Star Wars Celebration and, most recently, CinemaCon for ScreenRant. His work has appeared in outlets such as Game Rant and Comic Book Resources (CBR), and he has been featured in publications including the BBC and The New York Times.

For years, director Ben Shirinian made a name for himself in the music video world. He helmed a series of short dance films that garnered some recognition in his native Canada. Yet, the director recently stated that he always had a passion for narrative films. He took his first foray into this space with Josef et Aimée, a short that centered on the Holocaust and its victims.

Josef et Aimée was, in many ways, a prelude to Shirinian’s feature-length debut, The Housewife. Featuring an impressive cast that includes Naomi Watts, Tye Sheridan, Michael Imperioli, and Luke Evans, this new movie follows an up-and-coming New York Times reporter investigating a former Nazi guard hiding in plain sight in Queens, New York. If Josef et Aimée was about the Holocaust itself, then The Housewife exists as something of an indirect sequel, telling the true story of what happened to one of the most infamous camp guards in Nazi history.

Naomi Watts Takes Center Stage In The Housewife

Early on in the film, audiences are led to believe that Luke Evans’ character, Russell Ryan, is the ex-Nazi, now living in New York with a changed identity. Throughout the early stages of the investigation led by Tye Sheridan’s character, Evans doesn’t speak, and is seldom in frame. It feels as if he's being hidden for a big introduction. But the truth quickly becomes clear: it’s Naomi Watts’ Hermine Ryan (a.k.a. Hermine Braunsteiner) that is the Nazi. Her husband is actually from Long Island, and his thick East Coast accent is enough for Sheridan to deduce who the real enemy is.

All of these events occur in the first act, which helps The Housewife remain compelling and unpredictable. In too many movies and shows, a reveal like this is kept until late on in the story, far after the audience has already pieced together what’s really going on. This one trusts its viewers to pick up on the clues that are carefully sprinkled throughout. Shirinian understands the audience is likely too clever to keep the mystery going for long, and it’s this decision to reveal the truth early on that opens up the story in many new and exciting ways.

The mystery doesn’t disappear entirely, however, and instead shifts to a question of morality: Is Hermine truly evil, or simply someone who was forced to commit these atrocities? Such a story point requires nuance not only in the film’s script, but in the performances as well. Watts excels in this regard, playing a character that audiences naturally gravitate towards, which only makes the reveal of her true past more difficult to take in.

Tye Sheridan Shines With The Best Performance Of His Career

Having been in the film industry for approaching fifteen years, it’s easy to forget that Tye Sheridan is still only 29. The actor has appeared in many major blockbusters, including leading a Steven Spielberg film in Ready Player One. The Housewife exists as a major contrast to those films for Sheridan, with a story that is much more grounded and realistic. He has already proven his worth in films that are big and loud, but here, the actor shows his capability in a smaller, more intimate project. He acts as the audience surrogate, having been charmed by Watts’ motherly personality, only to feel betrayed when he discovers the truth.

Because of this, he bears significant responsibility to make the film work, with pressure to think and act like the audience would, all while still portraying his character like a fully realized person. Sheridan exceeds expectations with this challenge, and showcases just how much he’s grown as a performer in recent years.

The Housewife premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.