If you’re here after watching The Housemaid, then you’re probably here for, more or less, what is dubbed the Brandon Sklenar effect. We’re talking about that inexplicable mix of charisma and a creeping sense of loss of control that has become his specialty. Whether he’s a controlling and abusive husband or a cowboy fighting to get home, his character almost always finds that safety is just an illusion.
These picks, all featuring Sklenar as he digs into that same tense vibe that makes him the perfect anchor for psychological thrillers or survival sagas. Each entry offers a peek at complex characters who believe they’re in control, until the story proves otherwise. Essentially, if you liked the actor in The Housemaid, these movies and TV shows are guaranteed to give you that same tight feeling in your chest that you got from watching Sklenar as Andrew Winchester.
1. 1923 (2022 – 2025)
Let’s set aside the epic scale of this TV series for one second. In 1923, Sklenar’s Spencer Dutton is just a man who’s trying to get home to his family in Montana. While he’s fighting beasts and outlaws across continents to make that happen, he’s also dealing with the crushing weight of obligation, his dreadful past, and, for lack of a better expression, sheer bad luck. It’s arguably Sklenar’s most commanding performance to date because the show portrays him as a man who earned his peace the hard way in a world doing everything to steal it.
Just like in The Housemaid, total control is shown to be an unrealistic idea in this Yellowstone prequel. The characters here make plans, but the world has other, much rougher ideas. Anyone watching can see Spencer is tough and capable, but fate and other people’s choices keep throwing him off course. Still, it’s worthwhile watching Sklenar’s Spencer Dutton protect his home from relentless, impending chaos.
2. It Ends With Us (2024)
It Ends With Us goes deep into the cycle of love and pain. It’s the story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), who falls for Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni), and, as is often the case in toxic relationships, things are off to a sweet start but gradually become abusive. Sklenar serves as the film’s moral and emotional compass. He plays Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s kindhearted first love, who shows her what a healthy relationship could look like. Lily eventually walks away from her abusive relationship, while telling her daughter the cycle of violence “ends with us”, a shout-out to the film’s title.
This adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel explores a different facet of entrapment: the emotional one. Instead of using physical or situational danger, it uses little things like Ryle’s shallow apologies to Lily that mean next to nothing, and Atlas’s memory and presence to show how love and manipulation can build a cage just as strong as any physical one. While Sklenar’s performance in It Ends With Us was pitch perfect, the film itself was surrounded by real-life controversy, not the least of which was allegations of sexual harassment and smear campaigns involving its leads, Lively and Baldoni. There were also lawsuits and wider criticism that the marketing downplayed survivor experiences in favor of glamorizing domestic abuse. All of that adds layers of discomfort when watching the movie.
3. Drop (2025)
Imagine you’re at a fancy dinner date with everything going exactly as first dates do… a touch of awkwardness, intriguing conversation and the works. Then suddenly, your phone starts blowing up with scary, anonymous messages. That’s Drop in a nutshell. As Henry, Sklenar becomes the target of a murder plot after his date, Violet (Meghann Fahy), is pulled into a deadly game designed to end his life.
This movie is arguably the one that shares the most in common with The Housemaid… at least in terms of overall setting and vibe. It transforms a polite, structured social contract into an inescapable prison. Every notification Violet gets is like a knock on a locked door, mirroring that suffocating feel of being watched and manipulated within a “safe” environment.
4. Emily the Criminal (2022)
Emily the Criminal hits a different nerve. Here, Aubrey Plaza plays Emily, a woman drowning in debt who finds a way out of credit card fraud. It was supposed to be just that, but things quickly snowballed into more dangerous territory, cornering her into doing even more despicable things to survive. Though a smaller role Sklenar, with his charismatic, laid-back vibe, plays Brent to perfection.
This movie is the perfect depiction of what the “slippery slope” and “point of no return” look like. Emily makes one small bad decision, then another, and another, until she sinks in way too deep. Like the characters in The Housemaid, she learns the hard way that getting out of a mess is much harder than getting into it.
5. Midway (2019)
This one completely changes the setting, but the core feeling is the same. Midway is about the famous World War II naval battle between the United States and Japan. Sklenar plays George H. Gay Jr., a young torpedo bomber pilot thrown into impossible, deadly situations where survival often comes down to luck. It’s chaotic, loud, brutal, but still an interesting watch.
This movie captures the same total-loss-of-control tension featured heavily in The Housemaid. In the middle of a war, there are no easy exits, and plans don’t matter as much as surviving the chaos that’s already in motion. On top of that, Sklenar shows his incredible range by perfectly capturing that grim acceptance and solitude that comes from being the sole survivor of a squadron.
Ready to dive in? Start with 1923 if you want a grand, epic story of survival. For a tense, one-night nightmare, watch Drop. If you’re in the mood for a slow-burn emotional drama that will make you hold your breath, It Ends With Us is your pick.
