JAN 9: THE SECOND MOTHER

Jan 9 : THE SECOND MOTHER

Dir: Anna Muylaert
BRAZIL, 2015      Portuguese with subtitles       112 minutes
Cast: Regina Casé, Camila Márdila, Helena Albergaria




This class-critiquing charmer is centred on the endlessly endearing Val, a tightly wound, middle-aged live-in housekeeper who works for a wealthy family in São Paulo. She has lovingly raised the family’s now teenaged son since he was only a toddler, sending money back home to the small town where her own estranged daughter, Jéssica, was raised by relatives. The balance of the household is thrown into chaos when Jéssica comes to São Paulo to write her college entrance exams, marking the first time that she and Val have seen one another in over ten years. Val makes arrangements for Jéssica to stay on a mattress in the maid quarters, but the young woman instead accepts an offer from the homeowners to stay in the guest room — an offer that was designed to be politely refused.

THE TRAILER: