Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Anna Muylaert
Cast
Regina Casé,
Camila Márdila,
Karine Teles,
Lourenço Mutarelli,
Michel Joelsas,
Helena Albergaria
Genre
Drama
After leaving her daughter, Jessica, in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends thirteen years working as a nanny in São Paulo. Jessica reappears and seems to want to give her mother a second chance, but has not been raised to be a servant and her very existence turns Val’s routine on its head.
The Second Mother is a heartwarming and eye-opening film about family and class connections in the affluent metropolitan area of São Paulo, Brazil. The relationships between the women are complex and allow the audience to understand how the intersections of race and class affect the everyday lives of working people in Brazil. Anna Muylaert crafts an interesting, comedic, and emotional tale of a mother's love and the sacrifices some are willing to take to provide for their families.
A touching look into the intersections of class and race in Brazil and their implications on a personal scale. Though Muylaert doesn't exactly provide solutions to the sticky dynamics (how could she?), she captures the complex mixture of discomfort and love, sincerity and prejudice that characterize those relationships with realism and empathy. To me, it's enough to leave audiences pondering the questions themselves.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Ms. Muylaert’s guiding principle seems to have been fearlessness, and her film, which was shot by Barbara Alvarez, is superb on all counts.
Village Voice by Amy Nicholson
As we switch sympathies from scene to scene, Muylaert forces us to think big about the clash between idealism and acceptance, a philosophical war that spills beyond the walls of this small story into every corner of our own lives.
The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij
Muylaert does a deft job here of plotting her story and setting up her characters and their predicaments in ways that immediately invite reflection.
CineVue
This brilliant, beautifully observed comedy is a joy to watch throughout. The Second Mother's narrative works on so many levels, reflected in the film's ambiguous title, and the characterisation is flawless.
CineVue by Lucy Popescu
This brilliant, beautifully observed comedy is a joy to watch throughout. The Second Mother's narrative works on so many levels, reflected in the film's ambiguous title, and the characterisation is flawless.
The Playlist by Nikola Grozdanovic
Ultimately, the main source of power behind The Second Mother is found in its effortless skips between character study, family drama, and silent socioeconomic warfare. The final result is a gleaming cinematic treasure as heartwarming as the film's final reassuring smile.
Entertainment Weekly by Devan Coggan
This Brazilian drama offers a nuanced, often funny look at family and social status, and Casé’s performance is both heartbreaking and hilarious.
Screen Daily by Dan Fainaru
Touching, funny, perceptive and simple enough to carry large audiences, The Second Mother is carried throughout by a hilarious, intelligent and soulful performance from veteran Brazilian actress, comedian and TV host Regina Case, surrounded by a solid supporting cast.
Screen International by Dan Fainaru
Touching, funny, perceptive and simple enough to carry large audiences, The Second Mother is carried throughout by a hilarious, intelligent and soulful performance from veteran Brazilian actress, comedian and TV host Regina Case, surrounded by a solid supporting cast.
Variety by Geoff Berkshire
The script is executed with enough naturalism to ward off complaints of contrivance — all the way up to a tidy, but quite satisfying, denouement.
Slate by Dana Stevens
The Second Mother has the texture of lived experience, with characters who aren’t political symbols or social archetypes but struggling, flawed people trying their best to lead decent lives and pave a path to happiness for their children.
Boston Globe by Peter Keough
A kitchen, a guestroom, and swimming pool become battlegrounds. Though hardly revolutionary, “Mother” subverts conventions — both cinematic and social.
New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme
Brazilian director Anna Muylaert’s deft, funny film is set in São Paulo, but the class distinctions shown have no borders.
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
There’s a rah-rah element to The Second Mother that undermines its sociological ambition.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
Character relations are hinted at and even primed for confrontation, but without payoff or meaningful conclusion.
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
The Second Mother goes soft toward the end, defusing its conflicts too easily and inconsequentially.
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