Review - The Maid

The Maid, one of the most highly praised foreign films of the year, finally opens in Seattle today. Directed by Sebastian Silva, who also co-wrote the script with Pedro Peirano, The Maid is a deceptively captivating picture, switching in its tonal presentation with sudden but fluid jolts. 

The movie begins simply as we are introduced to the titular maid Raquel (Catalina Saavedra) eating quietly and contently by herself in the kitchen. Her employers, a large, wealthy family, tries luring Raquel away to the dining room, where they want to celebrate her forty-first birthday. She is embarrassed by the situation. Though Raquel sees these people as her family, she knows deep down they are not, and carries a shame over the fact that more than half of her life has been spent helping others and rarely herself. The stress and constant duties have finally worn her down, leading to a series of fainting spells. The family decides a second maid should be brought into help around the house, perhaps a bit of cleaning or even dealing with the kids, who with every day of teenage life become grumpier towards her. The proposal does not go over well. 

From the first act, The Maid looks ready to dive head first into The Hand That Rocks the Cradle territory, with a woman declaring her status as the new and rightful mother in town. Briefly, Silva’s picture plays with those tropes. Raquel slyly sets up her possible replacements for failure, keeping free of the blame. Yet, The Maid has something larger in mind. Raquel isn’t a b-movie psycho, but a woman who has finally hit rock-bottom and learning about what she is truly longing for in life. Change doesn’t come easy or without some damage to those around her, all to the movie’s betterment. 

This gradual evolution works so seamlessly because of the sensational performance by Saavedra. Her Raquel is lonely, with anxious eyes constantly darting to improve her situation. When she makes a decision, this nervous energy dissipates, a precise, stern woman in her place. She has no in-between. Silva makes big choices in her acting and each manages to construct a character which is sympathetic, bitter and vulnerable. Silva directs all of this in ways that feature hints of absurdism blended into its melodrama. His filmmaking is minimalist, low-key and all those other words ascribed to movies with no budget, but it packs a lot of emotion, not hiding under the surface of the story, but in the daylight for audiences to get swept up in. 

The Maid opens exclusively at Landmark’s Seven Gables Theatre today.