Movie
Chile, Mexico
Spanish
Comedy, Drama
2009
SEBASTIÁN SILVA
Agustín Silva, Alejandro Goic, Andrea García-Huidobro
97 min
7.4
The Staff
TLDR
Remember today to take a break, if you can.
What it's about
After serving as the live-in maid for the Valdes family for over two decades, Raquel starts to suffer from dizzy spells from being overexposed to cleaning chemicals. Because of this, Mrs. Valdes hires additional help, but Raquel launches an all-out assault on each new employee that dares to take her hard-earned place.
The take
No one likes to be replaced. Even when it gets difficult, hardwork and years put in effort to take and keep these roles makes it feel precious, and that’s exactly how househelp Raquel feels in The Maid. It’s a funny domestic comedy, with a scowling Catalina Saavedra ready to protect the role she’s held onto for years, but Saavedra and writer-director Sebastián Silva crafts an empathetic, realistic character study of a woman so worn down from poverty, power imbalance, and having had no breaks that the rare instance of compassion feels like a threat. La Nana doesn’t quite critique the entire system that keeps Raquel in her role, but it’s a rare film that acknowledges the importance of rest and empathy in order to feel human.
What stands out
Catalina Saavedra!
Comments
Add a comment
Your nameYour comment
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
Curated by humans, not algorithms.
© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.