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Film Review: The Second Mother

By Rebecca Bintrim

Anna Muylaert’s film The Second Mother stirs emotions in Brazil and abroad.

Val trails nervously behind as her long-estranged daughter, Jéssica, enters the guest room of Carlos and Bárbara, an upper-class São Paulo couple. “So this is where I’ll be staying?” asks Jéssica, as she bounces on the “good mattress.” Jéssica has just arrived from the northeast and has talked her way into getting a tour of the expansive house. Living as a “guest” of the family was not in anyone’s plan—but Jéssica has broken the invisible boundaries relegating her to the maids’ quarters. The scene sets up the exploration of issues of class and motherhood by Brazilian director Anna Muylaert...

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