This was a delightful, but sad little film, with a cinema verite sort of feel to it.
The film follows the year in the life of young maid, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) who works for the wealthy family in Mexico City and becomes pregnant out of wedlock, and is abandoned by the baby's father and her mistress is likewise abandoned by her wealthy, doctor husband. Sofia (Marina de Ravin) both treats Cleo with terrible kindness and terrible rudeness, on occasion.
Told in connected vignettes, the film moves along, with a slightly optimist ending after the devastating scene of Cleo's baby being stillborn, which, as it turns out she's relieved about, though she's certainly not acting like it. Personally, I thought she was fine with being pregnant despite her boyfriend turning out to be an asshole.
The film transports you back to a time long ago, with completely natural performances and Aparicio is a revelation, completely brilliant, acting as though she is Cleo. This is clearly a labor of love for Cuaron, and he does everything perfectly, the writing, the directing, the editing and the cinematography. This film is a must see for everyone and is probably better than Green Book. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-It would have been nice to some background on Mexican history as there is a riot and violent shooting scene toward the end of the film.
-There is an edit in the hospital scene so we don't know if Cleo has insurance or not.
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