Val (Regina Casé) is a a wealthy Brazilian family's long-term domestic servant and a prominent maternal figure for their now-teenage son. She is, however, estranged from her own daughter, Jessica (Camila Márdila). Val has not seen her in a decade, though she paid for her education and upbringing from afar. They reunite when Jessica comes to São Paulo to study architecture, but the youth is almost instantly exasperated by the strict social code (the obligatory knowing of "one's place") her mother regards as the status quo. It may not be the most original plot—upstairs, downstairs, and an inciting incident or person forcing both levels to more acutely recognize the gap—but it is incredibly well-told here with a blend of observant social-realist wit and crowd-pleasing comic warmth, and, as a mother and daughter who rebel against and learn from one another, Casé (a veteran of Brazilian comedy and daytime television) and Márdila deliver splendid and lively performances.

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