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Poster for The Second Mother

The Second Mother

2015 · 1h 52m · R Drama
Directed by Anna Muylaert

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Overview

After leaving her daughter Jessica in a small town in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends the next 13 years working as a nanny to Fabinho in São Paulo. She has financial stability but has to live with the guilt of having not raised Jessica herself. As Fabinho’s university entrance exams approach, Jessica reappears in her life and seems to want to give her mother a second chance. However, Jessica has not been raised to be a servant and her very existence will turn Val’s routine on its head. With precision and humour, the subtle and powerful forces that keep rigid class structures in place and how the youth may just be the ones to shake it all up.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
96%
Tomatometer
Fresh

All the elements of the story fit impeccably together for a humorous and occasionally wrenching examination of relationships.

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post
Fresh

The characters are so accustomed to keeping up appearances that they can't bring themselves to say what's bugging them. Their interactions may be mild, but the claustrophobic imagery creates the sense of being trapped in a powder keg.

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader
Fresh

Though hardly revolutionary, "Mother" subverts conventions - both cinematic and social.

Peter Keough, Boston Globe
Fresh

The Second Mother is an interesting look at generational and class divides in Brazil, without the feel of a lecture or lesson.

Molly Eichel, Philadelphia Inquirer
Fresh

We've seen plenty of stories about the arrival of a mysterious stranger upsetting the order of things. But "The Second Mother," Brazilian writer and director Anna Muylaert's outstanding film, is different.

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

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