User Reviews

Val is a housekeeper for a wealthy family in São Paulo Brazil. Despite being like "part of the family" and raising the family's son, Fabinho, as if he were her own son, Val has been separated from her own family for many years as she works to make money to support her daughter. When that daughter, Jessica, needs a place to stay while she studies for her entrance exam for a prestigious college in São Paulo, Val is all too eager to be reunited with the child she had to leave behind so many years ago. Val has been a live-in housekeeper/nanny for the family for years, and the issues begin when Jessica quickly shows that she has no respect for the unspoken rules that govern class within the household. The title of the film roughly translates to "When will she return?" and the theme of mothers separated from their children reappears throughout the film. Val and Jessica are not close because Jessica was raised by family while Val made money to support her. Fabinho and Dona Barbara are similarly estranged by her career. This film explores the dynamic and class boundaries within the household. Although Val considers herself part of the family, Jessica's disruptive presence quickly reveals that this is not quite the case. Val is also physically separated from the family, dwelling within her own domain in the kitchen and constantly eavesdropping on the conversations that take place in the dining room just through the open doorway. Que Horas Ela Volta? is hilarious, well-acted, and at times a little uncomfortable to watch. Val and Jessica may not disassemble class structure in Brazil, but the ridiculous and sometimes demeaning treatment that Val receives from Dona Barbara does cause the viewer to reject that treatment, which is a start.

A movie basically about people that arouses no deeper feelings inside of you other than scorn and shame. Even if you think hard, no character at all evokes any sympathy or compassion, and it is like being tortured for two hours with lame dialogs between mediocre people. So, if you like going to the movies to be touched, to feel involved with characters, consider twice before buying a ticket, unless you are a dishonest, pothead mediocre person with a failed and despiteful life then maybe you will enjoy it. If you liked the movie and are none of the above, maybe you just have a terrible taste for movies.'

Main Characters

The Boss Father: Inherited a lot of money from the parents, so he doesn't need to work and can be home leading a mediocre life smoking, eating ice cream and grudging on the fact he is a sh*t of an artist. Married to a fat pig and with a poor relationship with her, he tries to seduce the Maids daughter, adding another moral failure and misdeed to the infinite list of defeats in his life. Thin and weak as a moribund, you can only feel disdain for this pitiful character.

The Boss Mother : Fat and superficial, compensating the fact she is a whale with expensive clothing and life-style, surrounded by the Fashion media and social events about superficial sh*t. Terrible Mother, leaves her son to be looked after by the Maid. She suffers and have fits from lack of love and attention from her husband and son, making herself a victim, because she probably forgets she married rat for money and that she neglects her son since his birth. On the rare moments she is talking at dinner time with her teenage son, she advises him that he can smoke weed, because herself and her husband had smoked a lot of weed during their lives, but that he should "slow down" and don't smoke all day long. A good and generous employer in spite of everything described here.

The Boss Junior: Typical middle-class Brazilian teenager, smokes weed all day, doesn't study and is most concerned about his virginity and enjoying life. Fails on Exams for College, something which was already for granted due to his lifestyle. The parents, instead of teaching him a lesson and making him make up for his failure studying more, give him as a solace a Trip abroad to Australia so he can "study" there. The stupid teenager, after crying all the previous day long about his results on the Exams, all depressed in bed, appears smiling and excited about all the nice beaches he will meet in Australia. This method is very popular in Brazil, mainly on middle class, on teaching stupid teenagers how to deal with failures and consequence, and values on effort and reward.

Maid: Makes you rage in the first scenes of the Film when she returns the pot to Boss Junior and at the end, after quitting, when she steals the cups and coffee pot back (and laughs about it with her daughter - for Brazilians, stealing from those who have a bit more money than you, or your boss, is OK). Her personality shifts when her daughter starts living with her, and by end of the Film she passes the idea that she starts thinking being an employee is humiliating.

Daughter: Makes you range from the very first minute she shows up on the screen until the very end. She is abusive and has a distorted personality, leeching her mother and everyone around her, with no regard to her mother's job or the fact she was an intruder staying as a favour. She also 'innocently' enticed the Boss' desires by welcoming his proximity and favours. At the end of the Film she was the main reason her mother quit her job. In the end, both of them are unemployed and have a kid to take care of, but all they're worried about is having a cup of coffee and laughing about the stolen porcelain.

There have been many films about class relations: Renoir's La Règle du Jeu and so on. The best of the bunch manage to analyze class differences--and similarities--in intriguing ways. Que Horas Ela Volta? is one of those films.

Val is a housemaid for an upper-class family in São Paulo. She lives miles away from her daughter Jéssica, but the job allows her to provide for her which lessens the pangs of guilt at least somewhat. Val actually lives in the residence, works very hard and in the thirteen years that pass, she forms a motherly bond with the son, Fabinho. His actual mother, Bárbara, is very career-oriented, you see, so you can see why he latches onto Val. We see how Val is simultaneously well off, but not truly respected. She presents Bárbara with a gift: a set of cups with a black/white color pattern. Bárbara acts as if she's pleasantly surprised and tells Val they'll save it for a special occasion. Well, the special occasion arrives, a party. Val brings out the cups, but Bárbara berates her, having already forgotten Val gifted them to her. Then one day, Val gets a call from Jéssica who's looking to participate in the admission exam at the University of São Paulo. She'd need a place to stay. Val, of course, immediately agrees, but what Jéssica doesn't know is that Val takes her work home with her, so to speak. It turns out that Jéssica is very confident and smart and it immediately becomes clear her presence will shake up this upper-class residence quite a bit.

This being a film about class relations, it makes sense that this is the most stimulating aspect. It's funny to see this rich family's discomfort when the housemaid's daughter--of all people--appears more confident and smarter than Fabinho. Or note the similarities in expectations: Val works in almost slave-like fashion, but doesn't rebel, because she's been brought up with the notion that this is the way the world works. The rich family obviously holds similar opinions, otherwise they'd treat Val better. Another interesting thing to note is the role of the mother (the English title for the film is The Second Mother). Val hasn't been the mother to Jéssica she feels she should have been due to the literal distance between them. Then you've got Bárbara whose relationship with Fabinho is pretty much non-existent despite the fact they occupy the same living space.

The film almost risks falling into the familiar trap of showing the lower class folks to be real human beings as opposed to the upper class scumbags whose morals and decency have slowly eroded over the years in the pursuit of the almighty dollar (or peso), etc. While Val and Jéssica - and thus the 'lower class' - ultimately triumph, the overall portrayal of these characters remains nuanced and believable.

And that's how I'd describe the entire film: nuanced and believable. I do think Val's character development could've been paid more attention (particularly toward the end) and Jéssica could've been introduced a little sooner as that's when film really comes alive, but overall it's a good examination of class relations that doesn't get bogged down in melodrama.

Brazil was one of the last countries to abolish slave work, at 1888. Since then, a lot of things changed, but the gap between employee and employer is still big. This movie is a slap on the face of employers ( a necessary slap though): is touching, funny and straight at the same time..... and Val's accent is the icing on the cake! It's really cool to notice that Val came from Pernambuco to São Paulo because she was looking for a job, while her daughter (representing the new generation) came to SP because of the college entrance exams. Times are changing in Brasil.... Another fun fact: there was a free movie session in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro only for maids !! (Sorry for any English mistakes, i'm Brazilian.)

Que horas ela volta? makes my list of the top five films I've seen in 2017. It is a wonderfully crafted film which explores the intricacies of classism and sexism through the lens of a very likable and extremely caring protagonist. Val, a live-in maid nanny for a very rich family of three in São Paulo, leads a very routine life, cleaning, cooking and caring for her employer's son. Unfortunately, in order to do this and make a living she had to leave her daughter in the care of her friends and relatives back home in the North. Years go by without seeing Jéssica, and eventually a falling out occurs—even communication via telephone has ceased. Then, out of the blue, Val receives a call from Jéssica; she's coming to São Paulo in order to take placement exams to enter into one of the most elite universities in the country. Val is excited and prepares her a space in her room, with a new mattress bought by Dona Barbara, the mistress of the home. Unfortunately, everything doesn't go as Val plans. Chaos rules the day as the independent Jéssica clashes with social norms and the inherent inequality of her mother's position in the world.

The story-line of this film was not the only aspect of it which I enjoyed. Overall the acting, the political commentary, the cinematography and the emotional clarity of the movie drew me in. As a person from a place with very strict class distinctions and social rules to regulate interactions between classes, I found both Val's worries and Jéssica's hatred of the inequality she saw to be believable and relatable. If I were to pick any movie to show someone to introduce them to Latin American cinema, I would use this movie. It is a testament to the cinematographic abilities of Brazil and of its director Anna Muylaert.

Here's a small interesting movie from Brazil. It's the story of the family housekeeper who loves and raises the family child while her own daughter is raised elsewhere. Sparks fly when her daughter comes to stay with the family and doesn't know her place.

It is an interesting tale of class distinction told in a straight forward manner. The performances are solid from top to bottom. Perhaps the dog could have showed more interest as she was asleep or standing at the door to get off the set.

It's the kind of movie the critics will like. It subject matter doesn't feel raw enough for a major foreign language award nomination. It starts on the slow side and there are spots where the script had to rely on weather.

It's a small movie that will not get a broad distribution. Don't worry if you can't find it in a theater as it will play well on home formats.

The thriller is supposed to portray the life of a maid in the house of an upper medium class family in Sao Paolo and the arrival of her daughter in order to enter the university in SP and all the hardship she suffers there being a modern , independent woman. IMO this thriller is very biased and unrealistic. In this caricaturist portrait all the employers are shown as vain, lazy, stupid pot smokers, and the poor are hard workers, intelligent with all the qualities.Unrealistic because the chance of a girl coming from the chaotic Brazilian public shool to succeed in a vestibular entrance exam in the big city is less than zero.Not fair with the tax payers since the movie is sponsored by public companies ( see the credits in the start). A part from the obvious message of class fight , the racist way the maid is treated , there is a more interesting conflict in my opinion, which is that some families are separated for years , in order to make a living. The movie has its merits but the final result is compromised by a lack of a firm hand of the director.