The Maid

From ‘The Servant’ to ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ to ‘The Hand that Rocks the Cradle’, powerplay between homeowners and the help has long been a film staple. Through understated, naturalistic technique, engaging, nuanced performances and assured storytelling that balances the suspenseful and the affecting, ‘The Maid’ offers a pleasingly sly, ultimately endearing take on the set-up. Raquel (Catalina Saavedra) has been with a comfortable Santiago family for more than 20 years. She is part of the clan in some ways – as longstanding emotional attachments, both positive and negative, attest – but in others  remains apart, even expendable.

So when it’s suggested that an extra pair of hands around the house might be useful, Raquel’s self-preservation instincts kick in. Deadpan, handheld technique allows director Sebastián Silva to mine mundane situations for subtle hazard but also to take his story in unexpected directions, initial reticence preserving the potential for surprise. There’s a similar quality to Saavedra’s performance, whose Raquel is now downtrodden, wily and vulnerable. The result offers a fruitful ambivalence far richer than any butler-did-it cliché.