The Second Mother

The Second Mother (Que Horas Ela Volta?, 2015) is a Brazilian drama from Anna Muylaert, ready to watch online on iFILM. For thirteen years Val has cooked, cleaned and all but raised the son of a wealthy São Paulo household.

To take the job, Val once left her own daughter, Jéssica, behind in the northeastern state of Pernambuco. Now grown, Jéssica turns up to sit her university entrance exams and moves into the same house — except she refuses to learn her "place." She eats at the family table, swims in their pool, and the unspoken rules that keep servants and employers apart slowly come undone.

Regina Casé lets one awkward pause carry more weight than a page of dialogue. Muylaert traces Brazil's class lines without a single slogan — through plates, doorways and the staircases one person may climb and another may not. The film carried off audience prizes at both Sundance and Berlin. Stream The Second Mother (2015) online on iFILM.