An excitingly fresh take on some classic themes and ideas, THE SECOND MOTHER centers around Val, a hard-working live-in housekeeper in modern day Sao Paulo. Val is perfectly content to take care of every one of her wealthy employers’ needs, from cooking and cleaning to being a surrogate mother to their teenage son, who she has raised since he was a toddler. But when Val’s estranged daughter Jessica suddenly shows up the unspoken but intrinsic class barriers that exist within the home are thrown into disarray. Jessica is smart, confident, and ambitious, and refuses to accept the upstairs/downstairs dynamic, testing relationships and loyalties and forcing everyone to reconsider what family really means.
Variety film critic Geoff Berkshire called THE SECOND MOTHER “immensely endearing” and “a savvy, socially conscious crowdpleaser that occupies a rare middle ground between genteel and intellectual world cinema.” Hollywood Reporter writer Boyd van Hoeij declared “beautifully written and acted with precision, this film’s a winner.” We are extremely pleased to open THE SECOND MOTHER on August 28th at the Royal, September 4th at the Playhouse and Town Center, and September 11th at the Claremont.