Val (Brazilian household name Regina Casé), a cheerful São Paulo live-in housekeeper who’s taken care of a rich family for some time, finds her life turned upside down when her estranged and decidedly intelligent teenaged daughter, Jessica (Camila Márdila), comes to stay, thereby unleashing a welter of issues that make Val question her whole existence.
Long divorced from Jessica’s father, Val has had no contact with her university-aged daughter in a decade, preferring to devote herself to the care and comfort of Dr. Carlos (Lourenço Mutarelli), his wife Barbara (Karine Teles) and, most especially, spoiled son Fabinho (Michel Joelsas), to whom she devotes a disproportionate amount of time and affection. When Jessica comes to stay for a few days while she takes her university entrance exams, the family’s delicate equilibrium is disturbed: Jessica questions everything, becomes the focus of the male members of the family and, basically, refuses to “stay in her place…”
Movie theatres usually discourage talking but our latest series is designed to encourage it — before and after (not during) the show. Aimed at film lovers 55+, Talking Pictures offers audience-friendly festival films, refreshments, and an open invitation to chat about our shared experience of the movie. Tickets are just $10. Bring a buddy and get the second ticket for $16.
Regina Casé (Me You Them) delivers a stunning performance in Anna Muylaert’s riveting drama… This densely layered yet almost fast-paced-feeling [film]… passes not only the Bechdel test with flying colors but dissects with both chilling precision and humor such matters as class differences, real mothers vs. caretakers and whether privilege and one’s own station are things that can be questioned or changed… Though the film is very much an ensemble piece, and all the actors are terrific, [Casé] is definitely the standout here.
Boyd van Hoeij, Hollywood Reporter
Muylaert’s film is an effervescent comic drama that delights in the disruption of traditional upstairs/downstairs dynamics.
Julian Carrington, Globe and Mail
Muylaert forces us to think big about the clash between idealism and acceptance, a philosophical war that spills beyond the walls of this small story into every corner of our own lives.
Amy Nicholson, LA Weekly
Anna Muylaert
Regina Casé, Camila Márdila, Michel Joelsas, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli
Brazil
2015
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Panorama Audience Award, Berlin Film Festival
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Fabiano Gullane, Caio Gullane, Debora Ivanov, Anna Muylaert
Screenwriter
Anna Muylaert
Cinematography
Bárbara Alvarez
Editor
Karen Harley
Production Design
Marcos Pedroso, Thales Junqueira
Original Music
Fabio Trummer, Vitor Araújo
Also Playing
6: City slickin’
Shorts from: Canada, France, Jordan, Spain, USA.
Visual Architect: Frederick Elmes on Four Decades of Cinematic Collaboration
Legendary cinematographer Frederick Elmes has spent decades helping to define the visual language of directors like David Lynch and Jim Jarmusch. Don't miss this opportunity to hear about the craft behind some of cinema’s most unforgettable moments.
Image: © Vague Notion
La Grazia
Hot from opening the Venice Film Festival, this is a serious ethical drama from director Paolo Sorrentino and his long-serving collaborator, actor Toni Servillo, who plays a fictional Italian President wrestling with a moral dilemma.
Image: © Andrea Pirrello
A Useful Ghost
Wacky, whimsical, and always engaging, this tale about Thailand’s bloody modern history starts with a ghost in a vacuum cleaner and ends with a guerilla attack on an orgy. In between there’s romance, deadpan comedy, and subversive historical excavation.