Class warfare and parenting debates dominate Brazilian writer-director Anna Muylaert’s new film, The Second Mother. Val (Regina Casé), a hardworking nanny in São Paulo, laments having to leave her own daughter in a remote part of Brazil with relatives in order to make a good living. When her daughter comes to São Paulo to live with her while prepping for her college entrance exams, Val winds up in the midst of a personal crisis that she cannot clean up so easily. (Opens Friday at Mariemont Theatre) (R) Not screened in time for review
This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2015.
