The Maid () is a 2009 Chilean-Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Sebastián Silva, who co-wrote the screenplay with Pedro Peirano. It stars Catalina Saavedra as Raquel, a live-in domestic worker who has spent more than two decades working for an upper-class family in Santiago. When her employers hire additional help after she begins suffering from dizzy spells, Raquel becomes increasingly possessive of her position in the household. The film explores her relationships with the family and the other domestic workers they employ.
The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Saavedra. It subsequently received numerous international awards and nominations, including a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.
Plot Raquel has worked as a live-in maid for the Valdés family for 23 years. She is deeply attached to the family and regards her position in their household as central to her life. After she begins suffering from dizzy spells associated with prolonged exposure to cleaning chemicals, Pilar, her employer, decides to hire additional help.
Raquel resents the arrival of the new maids and attempts to drive them away, becoming increasingly extreme in her efforts to preserve her position. Her relationship with the family is also complicated by her interactions with their children and by the family's attempts to provide her with assistance. When Lucy, a cheerful domestic worker from outside Santiago, arrives, she develops a friendship with Raquel and gradually challenges her isolation and possessiveness.
Cast Catalina Saavedra as Raquel Claudia Celedón as Pilar Alejandro Goic as Mundo Valdés Mariana Loyola as Lucy Agustín Silva as Lucas Valdés Andrea García-Huidobro as Camila Valdés Anita Reeves as Sonia Delfina Guzmán as the grandmother Luis Dubó as Eric Mercedes Villanueva as Mercedes Gloria Canales as Lucy's mother Luis Wigdorsky as Lucy's father
The film's principal cast also includes García-Huidobro, Silva, Loyola, Guzmán, Reeves and Dubó.
Production Development Silva drew on his own experience of growing up in an upper-class Santiago household where domestic workers were part of family life. He said that his experiences with the family's longtime maid provided inspiration for the film. Silva developed the screenplay with Peirano. According to Silva, the pair first wrote a treatment together; Silva then wrote a complete screenplay, which they subsequently revised together, including changes to the structure and characters. Peirano said that the filmmakers were interested primarily in Raquel as an individual rather than in making a conventional class-conflict story. He described the film as an exploration of a woman who had become emotionally dependent on the family for which she worked.
The film was shot in Santiago and produced by Gregorio González, with production companies including Forastero, Diroriro, Punto Guión Punto Producciones and Tiburón Filmes. The cinematography was by Sergio Armstrong and the editing by Danielle Fillios. Silva described the production as highly compressed, with the crew sometimes filming around 12 scenes per day, and said that the resulting shooting method contributed to the film's naturalistic quality. The film's reported production budget was approximately $300,000.
Release The Maid premiered on January 17, 2009, at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in Chile on August 13, 2009. Elephant Eye Films distributed the film in the United States, where it opened theatrically in October 2009. Oscilloscope Laboratories subsequently acquired U.S. home-video and digital distribution rights and announced a DVD and video-on-demand release for June 22, 2010. The film grossed $1,705,977 worldwide, including $576,608 in the United States and Canada and $1,129,369 in international markets.
Reception Critical response The film received generally positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 93% approval rating from 74 critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted score of 82 out of 100 based on 24 critics, categorizing it as receiving "universal acclaim". Reviewing the film for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan described it as both a character study and social commentary, highlighting Saavedra's performance and Silva's direction. Peter Rainer of the Christian Science Monitor praised the film's portrayal of Raquel's long-term relationship with the family and described Saavedra's performance as central to its effectiveness. Roger Ebert described the film as an "unpredictable, naturalistic gem", while other critics noted its shifting tone between dark comedy, character study and social commentary.
Accolades At the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, the film won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, while Saavedra received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Acting. The film was also named one of the National Board of Review's five best foreign-language films of 2009. At the Gotham Awards, Saavedra won the Breakthrough Actor award, while the film and González were nominated for Best Feature. Other festival awards included the Critics Award for Best Film and the Golden India Catalina for Best Actress at the Cartagena Film Festival, the Talent Tape Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival, and Best Narrative Film at the Sarasota Film Festival.
At the Satellite Awards, the film tied with Broken Embraces for Best Foreign Language Film, while Saavedra was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. The Maid also received a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards and was nominated for Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture at the 41st NAACP Image Awards.
The film received a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language at the 67th Golden Globe Awards. It was the first Chilean film nominated in that category. The song "AyAyAyAy", featured in the film, was among 63 songs declared eligible to compete for nominations in the Best Original Song category at the 82nd Academy Awards, although it was not nominated.
Chile selected Dawson, Isla 10 rather than The Maid as its submission for the 82nd Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film category. The decision generated controversy in Chile, with critics and members of the film industry arguing that The Maid should have been selected. Dawson, Isla 10 ultimately was not nominated.
Year Event Recipient Award Result 2009 Cartagena Film Festival Sebastián Silva Critics Award - Best Film Catalina Saavedra Golden India Catalina - Best Actress Sebastián Silva Golden India Catalina - Best Film Gotham Film Awards Gregorio González (producer)Sebastián Silva (director) Best Feature Catalina Saavedra Breakthrough Actor/Actress Off Plus Camera Film Festival Poland Gregorio González (producer)Sebastián Silva (director) Krakow Film Award (Best Film) Sarasota Film Festival Best Narrative Film Fribourg International Film Festival Sebastián Silva (director) Talent Tape Award Paris Cinema International Film Festival Audience Award Taipei Film Festival Special Mention New Talent Competition3rd Audience Award Latin American Film Festival Critics Award Elcine First Prize - Best Film Sundance Film Festival Awards Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema - Dramatic Catalina Saavedra Special Jury Prize (For Acting): World Cinema - Dramatic Satellite Awards 2009 Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Sebastián Silva (director) Best Foreign Language Film Tied with Broken Embraces 2010 NAACP Image Awards Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globes Awards Best Foreign Language Film
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