9/10
Everything happens inside the Intercontinental Hotel
21 May 2021
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.
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