Maid (miniseries)
Maid is an American drama limited series created for Netflix by Molly Smith Metzler. The series is inspired by Stephanie Land's memoir "Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive." Its story focuses on a young mother who escapes an abusive relationship, subsequently struggling to provide for her daughter by getting a job cleaning houses. It premiered on Netflix on October 1, 2021. Premise. Alex leaves her abusive boyfriend, moves herself and their toddler daughter into a shelter, and gets a job cleaning houses for Value Maids. The show follows Alex's struggles  with raising a young child, dealing with both an abusive ex-boyfriend and her own dysfunctional family, and navigating the red tape of government assistance, all while working as a maid and dreaming of a future as a writer. The story takes place near Seattle with the Alex character frequently commuting via ferry to the fictional Fisher Island. Production. Development. On November 20, 2019, Netflix gave production a series order inspired by "New York Times" best-selling memoir "Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive" by Stephanie Land. The series was created by Molly Smith  Metzler who was also an executive producer alongside John Wells, Erin Jontow, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Brett Hedblom, and Land. Production companies involved with the series consisted of John Wells Productions, LuckyChap Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Television. Directors of the series included Wells, Nzingha Stewart, Lila Neugebauer, Helen Shaver, and Quyen "Q" Tran. The limited series was released on October 1, 2021. Casting. In August 2020, Margaret Qualley and Nick Robinson were cast in leading roles. On September 14, 2020, Anika Noni Rose joined the cast in a leading role. In October 2020, Andie MacDowell, Tracy Vilar, and Billy Burke  joined the cast in leading roles. On November 25, 2020, Xavi de Guzman joined the cast in a recurring role. Aimee Carrero landed a role as Danielle, who is a fellow survivor of domestic abuse and becomes friends with Alex, Margaret Qualley's character, at the women's shelter. Filming. Principal photography for the series began on September 28, 2020, and concluded on April 9, 2021, in Victoria, British Columbia. Reception. Critical response. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 48 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus  reads, ""Maid" takes great care with its sensitive subject matter to craft a drama that is not always easy to watch, but undeniably powerful, grounded by an outstanding performance by Margaret Qualley." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 82 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Kristen Lopez of "IndieWire" gave the series an A and wrote, "We need more stories like this and, hands down, "Maid" deserves all the acclaim it gets." Reviewing the series for "Rolling Stone", Alan Sepinwall gave a rating of four out of five stars and said, "Parts  of it are deliberately difficult to get through, yet the show is surprisingly watchable given the nature of the story, and at times even light and charming. Much of this is a credit to Qualley, who delivers a movie-star-level performance."