The Second Mother

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