When we think of abusive relationships, our minds often imagine physical violence leading to black eyes or bruised lips, but in reality, there's much more to it than that. It can also involve mental, emotional, and verbal abuse. If you watch the trailer of the new miniseries Maid, it might look depressing or even a public service announcement about domestic abuse but don't let that scare you away because Maid will get you hooked on its plot in minutes. I spent 10 hours binge-watching in one sitting. Maid is one of those shows that has that effect on you. This drama is powerful, heartbreaking, inspiring, and absolutely one of the best shows on Netflix I've seen all year.
Inspired by bestselling memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, And A Mother's Will To Survive by Stephanie Land's, Maid stars Margaret Qualley as Alex, a young mother who runs away from her abusive boyfriend, Sean, played by Nick Robinson. She takes her three-year-old daughter Maddy (Rylea Nevaeh Whittet) along with her and soon finds a job working as a housekeeper, which barely helps makes ends meet in order to escape poverty and provide a better life for her daughter.
To get this kind of show at the end of the year is surprising. While it's not eye-catching like last year's The Queen's Gambit, Maid is a well-crafted series. The directing, casting, writing, and cinematography are just excellent. The visuals are beautifully shot and the screenplay is concrete throughout. The series also has terrific and realistic character development. Even though it is a drama with a heavy subject matter, it is a fast-paced show. It seems like one thing happens after another, so it grabs your attention from the first to the last frame.
The series follows the life of one struggling single mother through an emotional yet humorous lens. Alex is a sympathetic character. She's vulnerable, defeated and yet indomitable when it comes to her daunting circumstances, which draws out the audience's compassion. This woman just can't catch a break. One minute she is hopeful, but the next, the entire world comes crashing down. One of the themes that impressed me is how we have Alex clean and organise other people's lives, but never has the opportunity to do it for herself. And yet, despite all the obstructions, she never gives up. However, the series also shows how she's sometimes her own worst enemy because as the story progresses, we get insight into Alex's upbringing and her environment that led to where she is now. This kind of character development stretching across all characters main and minor makes the show realistic and relatable.
The way that abusive relationships are portrayed in Maid is interesting because over the course of 10 episodes, it provides a spectrum. You get to learn the reasons behind each action whether it's from the point of view of the abuser or victim. So, it's not so much that it shows husbands beating their wives as it is more about the little things in relationships or something in between that you don't see, and it's effective at putting you in the shoes of victims.
The casting and performances in Maid are top-notch. Robinson, for instance, who you may recognise as a clean-cut kid from Love, Simon (2018) or Jurassic World (2015), plays the role of an abusive, alcoholic husband. He really knocks it out of the park and the same goes for Hollywood sweet lady Andie McDowell, who flawlessly plays Alex's free-spirited, bipolar mother (she's Qualley's real mother, too). And last, of course, Qualley is phenomenal as the protagonist. She is a rising star in Hollywood and many should remember her as the hitchhiking gypsy from Tarantinio's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019). What she does in Maid will leave a lasting impression.
Overall, Maid is an emotional roller coaster drama with a central character who is charismatic and sympathetic. The storytelling is addictive with characters that are wildly complex. And the end result is a powerful examination of a woman fighting the world and sometimes herself in order to grasp a better opportunity for her life and loved ones. Highly recommended, 9/10.
- Maid
- Starring Margaret Qualley, Andie MacDowell, Nick Robinson
- Created by Molly Smith Metzler
- Now streaming on Netflix
