The Second Mother

The Second Mother is a 2015 Brazilian drama film written and directed by Anna Muylaert. The film stars Regina Casé as Val, the housemaid of a wealthy family in São Paulo, and portrays the tensions that arise after her daughter Jéssica moves into the family's house in order to apply for an admission exam at the University of São Paulo. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was later released theatrically in Brazil on 27 August 2015. It received critical praise in and outside Brazil and was selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated. Plot Val, a woman from Pernambuco, moves to São Paulo to provide a better life for her daughter, Jéssica. Val leaves her daughter with a caretaker while she moves to a different city. In São Paulo, Val works as a live-in housemaid for an affluent family where she also takes care of the family's only child, Fabinho. Though Fabinho and Val have a close relationship it comes at the expense of her relationship with her daughter who continues to live in Pernambuco and harbours anger towards her mother for always being away. Fabinho and Val's relationship is so close that it seems as if he is her own son. When Jessica is nearing eighteen Val receives a call from her asking if she can stay with her briefly while she studies and takes the entrance exam to the University of São Paulo. Val is extremely shocked that she received this call from her daughter. Val is very surprised because she has not spoken to her daughter in years. Val, who lives in the house with the family she cleans for, asks them for permission to let Jessica stay while she searches for an apartment for the two of them. Dona Barbara, the head of the house, grants her permission. Dona Barbara is hopeful that Jessica will not stay at her home for too long.