The Second Mother is a subtle and compelling film about social transgression. It also deals with the dignity of life in a class-conscious society such as Brazil's.
Val — a superb Regina Casé — works as a maid for a rich family in Sao Paulo. Val, always in the background, is either cleaning, cooking or serving, but also becoming a second mother to Fabinho, a toddler in the very first scene, and then a teenager (Michel Joelsas).
Director Anna Muylaert takes her time showing us vignettes of daily life in this household.
A question Fabinho asks in the beginning referring to his own mother, Bárbara (Karine Teles) — "At what times does she come back?" — floats during the film. (It is also the name of the movie in Portuguese, Que Horas Ela Volta?)
Val is a mother herself, but has grown estranged from her daughter Jéssica (Camila Márdila). She has not seen her in more than 10 years.
Val's world is shattered when Jéssica rejoins her mother as she plans to take a college entrance exam. The daughter, staying at her mother's employer's house, does not abide by the social norms that Val has fully accepted.
Jéssica not only challenges the class system but also Val's sense of loyalty. Casé is dead-on as the maid torn between the family she works for, and the one to which she belongs.
The daughter goes as far as taking the guest room for herself — instead of the maid quarters — in a particularly tense moment for the maid. Val is not the only one feeling uncomfortable. Bárbara is particularly uptight and even orders the pool to be emptied after Jéssica jumps in, with Fabinho and a friend.
Muylaert effectively showcases the relationship between mother, daughter and the rich family, using it to explore contrasting views of class, education and sexism.
The Second Mother, which won a Special Jury Prize for Acting at Sundance earlier this year, stresses that privilege in a class society is inherited not earned, even as Jéssica or a new generation wants to change that narrative.
THE SECOND MOTHER (B+)
Directed by Anna Muylaert. R (some language and brief drug use). 112 mins. In Portuguese with English subtitles. At the Angelika Dallas.
