“The Chambermaid” is a Mexican film about a twenty four year old hotel maid who works in an upscale hotel Mexico City named Eve. It is in Spanish and I watched it with English subtitles. This movie doesn’t have a lot of action and it barely has a plot but nonetheless I enjoyed it.

There is absolutely nothing special about Eve. She is average looking, mild mannered and bit standoffish. She makes her living in a low skilled job and isn’t particularly ambitious.

The film follows Eve through her days at work in the hotel. She experiences annoying, odd and pushy hotel guests, phony coworkers, a workplace fling and disappointment at work. It’s fascinating. We know very little about Eve’s life outside of the hotel except that she has a four year old son that is cared for by a babysitter.

I find average people to be interesting. There’s always a story there that could rival any Hollywood production. I’ve had numerous service industry jobs and I can tell you that I’ve met some real characters with interesting back stories.

There is so much drama and tension involved in workplace relationships and politics. I think that’s particularly true in low wage jobs. People that work in low wage, service industry jobs have more stress and inconsistency in there lives which leads to more pressure and things such as promotions and raises that could pay a few more cents an hour are higher stakes.

There were brief moments of suspense in the movie when a guest requested extra towels and we weren’t sure if she would be able to remember the room number to where they were supposed to be delivered. She wrote the number on her hand but I was afraid she would get her hands wet or sweat the ink off. The melodrama in the movie is very subtle.

Eve is the kind of person that goes through life almost invisible and she’s not particularly interested in being seen. This was her story and it was enjoyable to watch.