The Maid Short Film Review (2019) – A Luxurious Illusion

(This is The Maid short film review, which is a short that explores a maid’s life that was published on Vimeo)

Being maids and servants in a rich household has always been about irony and contrast. They are the one that stands nearest to the lavish lifestyle that most wish for. And The Maid aims to explore that in their own style of storytelling.

It is directed by Rain Kencana and Kolja Brandt and produced by Manon Lemoine. The casts featured are Celine Yildirim and Paul Wollin. Now, let us get to The Maid short film review to see how well it does!

Premise

When a maid enters a room that is filled with luxurious items, she starts to imagine what her life would be if she is part of them. But will that illusion last?

The Maid Short Film Review

Premise

The story is a simple one where the maid gets into her own imagination that she is now the one living the lavish lifestyle. There are some great character transformation, and even mood changes halfway down, perhaps indicating the illusion at its peak. Nothing much to be said here as the story is not the main star of this short film.

The Maid short film review underwear — Let’s try it on!

I’m just quite curious of when the woman transform into a man, what could it mean? Is it a subtle hint to a double illusion? Where the man imagines himself as a maid who fantasises about living The lifestyle?

that’s perhaps due to the nature of this film itself – reality intertwines with illusion

Then there seems to be another hint at the end, when a siren is heard. Is it part of the soundtrack or perhaps alludes to something more? That the man breaks into the house and fantasises about it all by himself? Or a siren to wake him up to reality?

I must say I’m quite surprised and bewildered by the halfway transformation. Though I felt that it kind of fits the short film itself, and it might seem deeper than we thought. But for ordinary viewers, some of you will find this confusing. And that’s perhaps due to the nature of this film itself – reality intertwines with illusion.

The Maid short film review ghostface — Let’s take a pic!

Pacing

Pacing is great with things moving at an appropriate pace. There is no slowdown at all or any types of dragging. We are introduced to the character and she moves on to dream of living it the moment she drinks the wine.

Character

The Maid short film review mirror — The lips seem to be a bit dry

There are essentially two characters, but I will focus on just one here, which is the woman. She looks like a maid from the outside through and through. And this makes a great contrast with her later transformation to a wild one.

we can see the illusion is getting stronger, as her antics are getting wilder

Her transformation is, though not really gradual, happens at a believable rate. It starts from her trying out a shirt and then moving on to taking off her dress then taking picture with a polaroid. It is here that we can see the illusion is getting stronger, as her antics are getting wilder.

The Maid short film review mask — The mask!

The middle end portion of when she wears the mask really changes it all. I’m not really convinced it’s for the better, but it does show that she truly is deep inside the mirage. Hiding behind the mask allows her to express her excitement better. It looks weird, but believable.

The Maid short film review servant — The man that fantasises them all?

As for the man, I think that he is there for the final twist where we have always been seeing the illusion right from the start. He becomes the blurred line that represents reality yet also the one that creates the fantasy.

Both of the acting are alright, though I will give the actress a thumbs up for able to make her character gradual change not too drastic.

perhaps the director wants to create a bigger contrast that is more impactful

Soundtrack

The soundtrack only appears in the second half of the film. It sounds like those used in artistic film or in dance. While I feel that it can be too in-your-face and weird straight out of the box, it kind of goes along well with the scenes. I myself would opt for a more subtle approach, but perhaps the director wants to create a bigger contrast that is more impactful.

The Maid Short Film Review (2019) – A Luxurious Illusion

Story

Pacing

Characters

Soundtrack

Reader Rating0 Votes0

What's good

The well acted characters

Transformation of the maid at believable rate

Great pacing

Some subtle hints in the story that may mean deeper things

Truly explores the fantasy vs reality

What's bad

The ending can be confusing

The soundtrack changes the mood drastically

Premise idea is not very original

3.8

Pretty Good!

It is a film that surprises you with its own twist!

The Maid will not win any Oscar award for anything, but what it can do is to surprise you with the character's transformation and with its own take in fooling ourself with what's fake and real.

[The Maid short film review score table]

Author Details

Author Details

Anthony L Tjandra

An everyday guy who is the founder of Controller Companies. He started it when he was frustrated to find that the stuff he bought had no reviews available online. Thus, this website is created with the sole purpose of reviewing stuff that he has seen, bought, used or enjoyed! Now, he is probably doing another review while you are reading this.