A small triumph the debut feature by Argentine filmmaker Jorge Gaggero depicts the effect of Argentina's economic meltdown on the relationship between a formerly wealthy businesswoman and her servant of 30 years.

| Aug 27, 2019

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 18, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Incisive study of class relationships between a pauperized would-be aristocratic woman and the maid who is increasingly ready to break free.

| Dec 14, 2007

Live-in Maid is a study of two women who appear not to like each other very much, yet their link makes for a moving drama about friendship.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 19, 2007

[A] simply told, but emotionally robust movie.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 19, 2007

It paints a lovely, intimate portrait of a complex relationship and shows a side of Latin American life we rarely see on American screens.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 18, 2007

From the rooms and spaces which house the two women to the slow unraveling of their history together, Live In Maid is a wonder of economic storytelling.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 14, 2007

As a character study it carries a quiet, almost serene dramatic power as well as a strong current of dark humor.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 24, 2007

If you care about the art of movie acting, run to the Charles to see Norma Aleandro bring tragicomic stature to the role of a haute bourgeois Buenos Aires woman fallen on hard times in Live-In Maid.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Sep 21, 2007

A vivid portrait of a society in the midst of wrenching change, but it transcends its immediate context to become a thoughtful, even unforgettable, chamber piece, performed with exquisite subtlety by two fine actresses.

| Sep 20, 2007

Writer/director Jorge Gagggero has made a sensitive and lovely portrayal of two women.

| Sep 15, 2007

It's a small movie but a smartly detailed one.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 13, 2007

Gaggero not only draws out such nuances from the two women but illustrates the complexities of their friendship with carefully constructed cinematography.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 8, 2007

Live-In Maid is a modest chamber piece enriched by its affecting human harmonies and overtones.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 31, 2007

Even if I knew how things turned out in Live-In Maid, a fine Argentinean film with English subtitles, I wouldn't give away the ending.

| Aug 30, 2007

Live-in Maid is a fascinating directorial exercise in observing characters whose long history together is coming to an end.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 10, 2007

Gaggero keeps his focus on the two women who, in order to survive, discover they must drop the facade of class and act upon their 30-year relationship.

| Original Score: B | Aug 9, 2007

Dora and Beba both seem like real people, independent women who struggle to hide how dependent they really are.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 21, 2007

Writer-director Gaggero shoots for a kind of docu-realism, with a few overtly cinematic interludes, like one well-paced split-screen sequence.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 21, 2007