by Mark Murton
Original Title: La Nana
Directed by: Sebastián Silva
This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning for rough handling!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Middle-aged maid Raquel (Catalina Saavedra), who has worked for the same affluent Chilean family for over 20 years, is fiercely protective of her position, driving away any additional help the family employ, until one new arrival refuses to be intimidated and helps set Rachel on a journey to free herself from a mental servitude of her own making.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): After Rachel suffers a medical episode the family employ another maid, Mercedes (Mercedes Villanueva), to ease her workload. At the same time, eldest daughter, Camila (Andrea García-Huidobro) is presented with a box by her boyfriend and as she starts to open it a calico kitten pops his head out. Delighted, Camila scoops the kitten out.
The rest of the family gather around to meet the new arrival, with only Rachel hanging back and not sharing the general excitement, grumpily declaring, “I don’t have time to look after animals.”
Mercedes volunteers to take care of the kitten and Camila lets her chose a name for him. Peru-born Mercedes decides on Lima and she cradles Lima in her arms as Rachel shows her around the kitchen, holding on to him as she prepares him some milk.
The next day, Rachel seizes the opportunity to shut Mercedes out of the house and then, rather too roughly, gathers up Lima and carries him into the husband’s study where he is constructing an intricate model of a ship.
Rachel then, again roughly, tosses Lima onto the desk in front of the model.
A short time later she hears the husband returning unexpectedly to the house and quickly gathers up Lima before forcing the poor kitten into a desk drawer!
Later, having shut Mercedes out once again, Rachel carries Lima out to the swimming pool at the back of the house and plonks him on the ground at the pool’s edge.
Lima declines to fall into the pool so Rachel picks him up again and carries him into the bushes at the edge of the property. Here she boosts him up and out of a gap at the top of the wall which is followed by a strangled cat cry. Lima isn’t seen again although it seems he did survive the fall as when the family start a search for the missing cat they fail to find him (dead or alive).
Final Mewsings: It’s hard to sympathize with a character who indulges in casual cat cruelty.
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