BRAZIL -

The Second Mother (Portuguese: Que Horas Ela Volta?, lit. What time will she return?) is a 2015 Brazilian drama film written and directed by Anna Muylaert. The film stars Regina Casé as Val, the domestic worker of a wealthy family in São Paulo, and shows the tensions that arise after her daughter Jéssica moves into the family's house in order to apply for an admission exam in the city's university.

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Anna Muylaert showed the movie recently in Brazil to two very different audiences: One screening was for domestic workers she knows — including the woman who worked for her parents for 30 years and now works for her younger sister.  Most of the women, Muylaert said, "cried a lot. It was very beautiful. They were looking at me [and saying], "How do you know all of these secrets?"'

Casé and friends attended the second screening. "Everybody loved the film very much," she said. But for some, it hit a bit too close to home. "Some of them said, 'I am so ashamed. I have to go home and talk to my worker.' People liked the film, but they see themselves in a mirror."

According to Carli Maria dos Santos, President of the Domestic Workers Union in Rio de Janeiro, the film reflects very well on the conditions of domestic workers.

It premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was later released theatrically in Brazil on August 27, 2015. The film received high critical praise in and outside Brazil and was selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.

Sources & More information:

• Barbro Budin
• The Second Mother (2015 film) | Wikipedia
• The Second Mother (Que Horas Ela Volta?) | Rotten Tomatoes
• Anna Muylaert tackles Brazilian child-rearing customs in 'The Second Mother' | Los Angeles Times
• Anna Muylaert on Her Film The Second Mother and Sexism in the Film Industry | Miami New Times
• Brazil Selects ‘The Second Mother’ as Oscar Entry | Variety
• The Second Mother review – master and servant roles under scrutiny | The Guardian