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.

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.

Awards