The Maid (2005) Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A Filipino woman is haunted by ghosts while working for a family in Singapore.

Review: In as few words as possible: this film is good but had the potential to be great. Probably the main hindrance is the tone is not where it should be for a horror movie. Had the makers instilled a sense of dread or darkness to the production, the audience would be more on edge. Instead, it feels like you're watching a YA drama often. Setting that aside, the rest of the story is decent with many great ideas for scares. At the same time, if you ever wondered what experiencing Chinese Ghost Month was like, this movie has you covered. I also liked the combination of mixing the Filipino perspective with the Singaporean landscape; as a side effect, most of the dialogue is English.

The story focuses on a girl, named Rosa, as she travels to Singapore to work as a maid for an older couple and their mentally disabled son; the son is, perhaps, in his 20s or 30s. Unfamiliar with the local customs or setting, Rosa is shown the ropes since her arrival coincides with the Ghost Month. Quickly enough, Rosa develops a kind of sixth sense--seeing ghosts everywhere. While it's not explained what triggers this, they thoroughly make use of the many ghosts Rosa sees. As a result, the film offers many twists based on Rosa's inability to tell who is a ghost and who isn't. Sometimes these twists help...other times they hurt the film's final impression. The primary ghost haunting Rosa is another Filipino girl dressed in red, sometimes covered in a veil, which is shown on the poster. The design for this ghost is awesome, but it's sadly underutilized. Maybe they didn't realize the creepy potential until post-production?

With the month drawing to its end, Rosa is at wits end because of the ceaseless torment from the ghosts. But, of course, many of the ghosts are trying to warn Rosa of the terrible fate that awaits her. As it turns out, the couple she's working for killed the other Filipino girl. It's actually really messed up, and this is what I mean by the tone feeling off; to me, this film is PG-levels of content for the most part, but suddenly jumps into R-rated territory. We learn the other girl was raped by the son and then burned alive to prevent her from blabbing. Talk about escalating quickly. Since the son isn't all there, he committed suicide once he realized the gravity of his actions. So, yes, the son has been a ghost all this time, and the couple believes that they can marry Rosa's spirit to the son's if they kill her as Ghost Month ends. That may sound convoluted, but it makes sense in the context of the film. Let's just say it's a fate worse than death. This scheme falls apart with the assistance of the other Filipino girl's ghost. Come to think of it, this film can't decide if the ghosts can see each other or not as we see examples of both. Nevertheless, the couple dies, Rosa goes back to the Philippines, and the remains of the other girl are seemingly put to rest. Eh, it's Hollywood-esque, but I'll take it over a final zinger (though we do see the ghosts of the family Rosa was working for).

The best things going for this film are the relentless scares and the abundance of twists. This isn't to say it's a complete success--as said scares and twists fail as often as they succeed--but the story keeps you interested throughout. Parts might feel cliched, however, I would say the film overall is original. The usage of Chinese Ghost Month is a bit tired if you're an Asian horror veteran, but, if you're not familiar with this tradition, you may find the film that much more intriguing. In fact, Ghost Month is approaching so this serves as proper viewing to get you into the spirit (no pun intended). While the film could have toned it down with the emo drama at times, others may find that aspect resonating with them. I would suggest checking this one out, but it's not fully scary if that's what you want yet it's not quite dramatic if that's also what you want. Go figure.

Notable Moment: When the first maid gets torched. I mean, really, who jumps to the conclusion of murder that quickly and by fire to boot?! I guess they had to make use of that asshole smoking like a damn chimney all movie long. In fact, was there even a scene where that dude wasn't smoking?

Final Rating: 6/10