Mexican filmmaker Lila Avilés has been voted as best directorial debut of the year by New York Film Critics Online for her film The Chambermaid, which is Mexico’s Oscar candidate for best international feature.
A poignant and delicate class portrait, Avilés’ film follows Eve—played by the wonderful Gabriela Cartol—a young chambermaid working in one of the most luxurious hotels in Mexico City, an exclusive glass tower inhabited by wealthy guests whose lives she imagines by their belongings left behind and their absences. Long, laborious shifts prevent Eve from caring for her child as she helps guests with their own children, but she believes she can better her situation after she’s promoted to work at executive-level suites, for which she accepts a grueling schedule. In keeping with her desire to improve her lot, she simultaneously enrolls in the hotel’s adult education program.
An incipient friendship with her coworker and an awkward, silent flirtation with a window-washer prod her toward much needed bravery. When things don’t turn out as planned, Eve transforms her solitary explorations and newfound courage into the strength to face a life outside the high-class prison that’s entrapped her, breaking rules and discovering herself.
Inspired by Avilés’ theater play of the same name—in turn inspired by Sophie Calle’s 1980 artistic project “The Hotel,” in which the French artist worked as a chambermaid in a Venice hotel—The Chambermaid is a standout among a thriving new generation of Mexican and Latin American female filmmakers. With impeccable cinematography, a near-documentary eye, and a humanistic gaze, the film signals Avilés as a talent to watch.
The New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) was founded by reviewer Harvey Karten in 2000 and today’s voting took place in Lincoln Center's Furman Gallery inside the Walter Reade Theatre for its 20th annual convocation. Last year, the group selected the Mexican film Roma by Alfonso Cuarón as best picture.
