Still wondering if you should watch Maid? Catch the review here and decide for yourself!
If you are looking for a black and white depiction of a good versus bad marital relationship, Maid is not it. It’s messy, nuanced, thought-provoking and for some, it is a cathartic experience.
Don’t watch it if you are looking for villains and heroes!
But… do watch it if you are willing to take a peek into understanding why people in a relationship behave as they do. Watch it if you are willing to accept that people are not, for the most part, inherently bad. They just have tendencies to behave unacceptably.
What The Story Entails
In a nutshell, Maid is the story of a young mother who gets a glimpse one night of the physical violence her man might be capable of. He does NOT hit her or her child. But the incident, combined with her growing awareness of the pitfalls in her relationship does awaken her consciousness enough to attempt to walk away from a relationship that might become more abusive.
Maid chronicles her journey as she faces the prospect of life as an unemployed single parent, stuck in a system which will never make it easy for the abused.
Maid chronicles her love for her child, and her unwillingness to settle for the status quo… for her child.
Maid also shines a light on not just her own story but the variety of people in similar and yet vastly different economic and social circumstances. She’s alone and yet she’s not the only one. It forces the viewer to examine how inherently easy it is for people in a relationship to fall into patterns of behaviour.
Maid’s crowning glory, however, is that it depicts a male as a survivor of his own upbringing as well. It allows the empathetic viewer to understand his struggle. Yes, his behaviour is unacceptable. Yes, his anger results in him acting out in ways that the viewer wants to lash out at him for. But it also lets the emotionally intelligent viewer sympathise with his plight and laud his final tiny act of stepping up and being a real man.
Abuse, whether physical or mental, is not gender-specific.
Maid allows a viewer to understand clearly, first hand, why the abused easily fall back into cycles of abuse. Many a time, stories of abuse wash over the slow moving circumstances which result in an abused woman or man going back to their abuser. With Maid, the viewer walks the path she walks, step by excruciating step, day by day.
Maid introduces the complex blurriness of emotional abuse. It is not an easy watch. It will not appeal to everyone. It’s hard-hitting in a way that makes anyone in a relationship question every word they’ve spoken to a partner, whether intentionally in anger or subconsciously, reliving some past trauma.
Should You Watch It?
I cannot, in good conscience, recommend it to everyone, only because if you are not in the right frame of mind, you will not be able to appreciate its beauty.
If you are in a point in your relationship where you are in a negative state of mind, this story of abuse may very well leave you questioning the fabric of your own relationship.
However, if you wish for a deeper understanding of what exactly constitutes abuse and you are firm in your ability to watch without prejudice or preconceived notions, watch Maid.
It is an unquestionably poignant portrayal of life at its best and worst and the multitude blank voids in between.
