User Reviews

Obviously not for those looking for an action flick, this is a stark and personal look at the daily life of Eve, a 24-year-old introverted maid at a luxurious Mexico City hotel. Impeccably portrayed by Gabriela Cartol, Eve must try and deal with the mundane aspects of her job, often being treated as invisible by the guests, inter-staff politics, and trying to find enough time to see and talk to her young son as the job permits.

Yet Eve does aspire for a better future by taking a GED class and working hard to be placed at the top of the list for a better assignment on the 42nd floor. You can see the strain on her face as she endures various disappointments, but also believing that she has little choice but to keep this job. However, as the stress mounts we begin to see her act in some quite unexpected ways.

To me, this movie, directed by Gabriela Cartol, was rather fascinating and I think its realism was genuine. So for those viewers that like a quiet and cerebral film, with realistic acting that really captures a part of human life, then you may find this one to your liking.

A maid in a Mexico City hotel hopes to move up the ladder.

This is a well made, engrossing film about what happens behind the scenes and when you are not in your hotel room. The main character named Eve is a 24 year old single mother who wants to get her GED and get a better paying job in the hotel. There are several interesting shots of her looking very small among the mounds of linen as she cleans rooms, there is an astounding shot of her on the roof as well. She has some interesting and bizarre encounters with guests and co workers. This is no Hollywood fairy tale like Jennifer Lopez in "Maid In Manhattan". This is a realistic view into a snapshot of life not many get to see. Although it is a fictional scripted movie it reminded me of the great documentaries by Frederick Wiseman. I always felt that seeing normal everyday people going about their day are fascinating, and it held my interest the whole time. I hope more people will seek this out, especially if you like your films real and quietly effective that avoids all Hollywood cliches.

"The Chambermaid" is a poor man's answer to Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma."

Where "Roma" painted on a huge canvas, juxtaposing the isolation of the main character's existence amidst the swirling carnival of life happening around her, the world as we know it might as well not exist at all in "The Chambermaid." Or rather, the world is reduced to the hushed hallways, empty rooms, and service areas of a luxury hotel. That's where Eve works and never seems to leave. Her days are comprised of cleaning and taking care of other people's needs while taking care of none of her own. We see her half-heartedly pursuing classes in order to earn her GED, and we know she has a child she adores but only because we see her on the phone checking in with the person taking care of him. She doesn't seem to have any kind of dating life to speak of, though because of a couple of scenes we know she's a sexual being. Her job is making her sick, but she pushes through the moments when she feels most unwell.

"The Chambermaid" is a sobering film, and it's not that much fun to sit through. But it's a very well made film, and there's something quietly mesmerizing about watching one of the nameless, faceless millions that the world is full of and who we interact with every day without really seeing slowly evolve into a full-bodied character with a rich interior life before our eyes. That this happens through long static shots and little dialogue makes the feat even more impressive. Kudos have to go to Gabriela Cartol, the actress who plays Eve and is in virtually every frame of the film. This is the kind of performance that will never garner any wide recognition, but it's one that should.

The only time we see Eve outside the walls of the hotel is in the film's very last shot. But even then, though we're relieved to see her finally interacting with the larger world, we have to ask ourselves if there's any place in it for her.

Grade: A

For over an hour and a half, I watched the daily routine of a chambermaid at a posh Mexico City hotel, and I wasn't the bit bored. In writer-director Lila Aviles's The Chambermaid, Eve (Gabriela Cartol) experiences with us through the magic of the camera a life as a maid in a hotel with small events that take her through aspiration, eroticism, and disappointment.

Aviles's camera moves very little as it lets Cartol's expressive face tell us about the highs and lows of a blue-collar mom working for her baby and her own social elevation. Not only is she likeable, but she is admirable for the way she does her very best at housekeeping and improving her lot in life with evening school.

Each fold of a sheet or electroshock titillation from co-worker Minitoy (Teresa Sanchez) lets us in to her yearnings and her escapes. When we watch her perform an erotic act for a window washer admirer, we see a 24-year old woman with passions that go beyond her staid working life. Her emergence into an extrovert in her evening class is, like her, slow but sure as she grows into independence and extroversion.

What matters here is that an unexemplary life has yearnings and romance that are hidden to everyone but the camera, revealing a woman of many layers and good intentions, buffeted by fate and her own kindnesses from her desires and ambitions. As in Alfonse Cuaron's Roma, the servant has the insight, but unlike Roma, The Chambermaid is bereft of nostalgia and dominated by the quotidian forces that define modern life, rich or poor.

Here is a winning effort from a first-time filmmaker and a memorable slice of life sure to inform how we see housekeeping in whatever hotel we visit, be it Mexico City, London, or any other great city that hides the lives of the working poor.

Despite the majority of the people on our planet having monotonous, often terrible jobs, there are few movies about them. I don't mean plots where the underdog gets involved in some crazy crime or becomes a hero against the odds. I refer to the theme of being poor and underappreciated being everything.

The majority of the rich, as the driver of economic disparity, certainly don't care for poverty except as entertainment, but the slaves of our world are equally to blame for using soapies, fake reality shows and mindless action films to escape.

This isn't about blame, but me explaining why I think there are too few necessary movies that teach us the plight of our fellow human beings. 'The Chambermaid' deserves companions such as 'The Street Sweeper', 'The Tollbooth Operator' etc.

Don't let me be so sociological as to be insensitive to the fact that this is also about the main character struggling to overcome her shyness so as to be less alone, and, more importantly, struggling to be more versus a world that's bigger than her.

As sub-theme, 'The Chambermaid', indirectly yet clearly asks and answers: "Do you leave your respect and responsibility at home, or carry it with you as a hotel guest?"

The daily life of Eve, a chambermaid at one of the most luxurious hotels in Mexico.

A film about routines, uncertainties, dreams and banalities, which won me over since the beginning.

The action takes place all within the hotel walls, which highlights the feeling of lack of freedom and the bonds that a low class person deals daily in order to survive.

We don't see any members of her family or friends in any scene, we just know the relationships that Eve has through phone calls, conveying the feeling of absence and lack of support from the people around her, even though it is evident that she loves them.

As the main character loses his inhibition and learns to let go, very interesting moments emerge, all of which are essential for the whole narrative. A scene in one of the hotel's rooms, next to a window made me think "wow, I wasn't expecting this!".

I see this film as a form of homage to the invisible people who pass through our lives every day, without being given credit and respect.

I rather liked this film. Nothing happens in it that could be said to constitute a plot in the classical sense, but that is the point. The protagonist leads a desultory life, working only to survive and lacking any real means for freeing herself from the daily grind. Her relationships to her co-workers and the people whom she serves are temporary and devoid of any lasting significance. In some ways, her situation reflects that of many workers at every stratum of society. The difference is that she does not have very many options available and will probably continue to clean rooms until the day she dies.

Which is why I can see many English users saying they think the movie is flat. A very good movie.

La Camarista (The Chambermaid, 2019) by mexican director Lila Avilés is a film that shows a level of freedom within the confines of a restricted budget that is just mindblowing.

If you read the rest of the reviews around here you will get a sense of the style it's shot: the camera, using beautiful cinematography, is a passive witness to a hotel chambermaid's daily routine. There is no spectacularity, not an earthquake to shatter the main character, she's never accused of stealing stuff... There's no dramatic trigger to turn this story into a powerhouse drama. Instead, Avilés chooses, wisely, to dwell on her star's nuanced but effective performance. Gabriela Cartol's Evelina (the maid in the title) is a shy, dreamy and sometimes annoying woman. A real person instead of a stereotype. We're not here to lament her poverty, but to join her daily conversations, her momentary daydreaming, her spirit breaking apart or becoming stronger.

Avilés is not interested on bringing disaster into her characters' lives. She doesn't want them to unravel, instead we're drawn into this colossal universe of a big city hotel and breaks into its small spaces and corners, revealing beauty in routine.

An overall enjoyable experience for audiences who relish subtlety, La Camarista manages to feel as a refreshing take on a cliché subject.

The Chambermaid is one of the weakest films of the 21st Century so far.

It is quite literally 103 minutes of a service worker going about her daily tasks. It's made with a conventional cinematic structure, but there is no character development. There is no plot advancement. So why make the film in such a straightforward narrative style?

If the idea was to demonstrate the mundanity of a service worker's life, then congratulations; but everyone is already aware of this. We did not need this 'message' (there isn't one) conveyed by way of a feature film; it's offensive to the viewer to waste their precious time and offer nothing in return.

It could reasonably be expected that themes of women's rights or social injustice might be present in the film, but no. They are only there if the viewer decides to implement them. There are some very subtle scenes which appear to touch upon these issues, but it's almost as if the filmmaker was afraid to tackle them.

This film is nothing.

The Chambermaid is a beautifully quiet look at a hotel housekeeper's daily existence. The film's narrative line is simple, yet the complexity of Gabriel Cartol's lead performance was stunning.

Anyone that has worked a menial or underappreciated job will appreciate the frustrating workplace dynamics where schmoozers who blow their own horn sometimes get ahead of quiet hardworking people.

In addition the film maker's symbolism of red and white shown in parallel construction was also striking.

I genuinely felt bad for the maid in this film, but I feel even more bad for the fact that I wasted an hour and forty minutes watching an unfocused and unguided film that all could have been trimmed down to a twenty minute short film. The Chambermaid could basically be summed up like this: woman struggles in her job as a hotel maid, and while attempting to get her GED, she continuously suffers from people overlooking her and being an outcast in society. Yes, that sounds all fine and dandy, but again, these freaking indie films just love showing main characters walking around for what seems like hours.

The main character cleans. Then she walks down the hall. She stares at random objects. She cleans some blankets. She goes to GED classes. She speaks one sentence. Repeat. It gets extremely boring and repetitive.

I will say that I was enlightened with getting an insight into the struggles of what Mexican maids have to go through, especially in their struggle to rank up in their crummy job, but that does not make this film good. The main character was horribly developed and literally had no character, so how am I supposed to really care? I sympathize with maids, but I do not sympathize with her.

All in all, this was a boring film that really needs a trim of about an hour. Get rid of GED crap. Get rid of phone calls to home. Get rid of boring shots of her cleaning for half of the runtime, and just trim it to like a quarter. Maybe focus more on the people, like the young woman with the child, who gave a bit of attention to our main character.

Watch the movie if you like to watch people clean or if you like watching people walk around while looking sad.

Mexico's submission for Best Foreign Language Film for 2019 focuses on a maid's dismal life in an upscale hotel in Mexico City. "La camarista" ("The Chambermaid" in English) takes place entirely within the hotel - as if to say that the protagonist is a prisoner there - and uses long shots to remind the audience of her unpleasant job. He entire day involves cleaning rooms and assisting guests; examples are an Argentinian tourist who needs her baby watched, and an Orthodox Jewish man who can't operate an elevator on the Sabbath.

All of this serves to remind the viewer of Mexico's class structure, just like "Roma" did. The maid aspires to something more, but is it really within her reach in a society where the social hierarchy is all but institutionalized?

Definitely see it.

The Mexican film La camarista (2018) was shown in the U. S. with the translated title The Chambermaid. It was co-written and directed by Lila Avilés.

Gabriela Cartol stars in the title role. She portrays a young woman named Eve. Eve is a poor woman who lives in a distant neighborhood that we never see. Everything in the film happens inside the luxurious hotel.

The movie will rise or fall depending on Cartol's acting skills. She is an excellent actor, and we believe in her as Eve.

Eve works hard, and she is respected by the other workers because of this. Sadly, they accept the hard work and low pay as a given. There's no hint that they would try to collectively stand up to management. What they do is to try to curry favor with management so that they can advance to more expensive rooms where they will get better tips.

Eve's only connection with the outside world is when she makes hurried phone calls to the woman caring for her child. Sometimes she can say a few quick words to him. Otherwise, it's all constant, difficult work.

As you can guess, this isn't a happy film. However, it's an honest film about a diligent worker. I recommend it if you are concerned about workers and their lives.

We saw this movie as a virtual presentation of the Washington, D. C. Labor Film Festival. La camarista has a fairly weak IMDb rating of 7.0. I thought it was much better than that, and rated it 9.

The camera follows the main character cleaning the hotel for pretty much 90% of the run length without any character development, plot, excitement or anything at all. It's as dull as a movie ever could get.

I was so bored I was starting at my phone several times in the movie theatre desperately waiting for the show to end and get out.

Singlehandedly one of the worst movies I've ever watched.

Wanted to shut this movie off in the first 30 minutes. Decided to stick with it...should've shut it off. A hour and forty minutes of nothing. No plot, no character development...nothing.