Brilliant. Captivating. Triggering. True-to-life. Scary-real. Heart-wrenching… What am I talking about? It’s Netflix’s new limited series, called Maid.
***[PREVIEW] TRIGGER WARNING!***
I started watching this, because of reviews that I had seen in other DV survivor groups and because it was in the Netflix “Top 10 in the US”…let me just say, I have never seen anything so realistically done!
I did place the trigger warning because there are VERY triggering parts in the trailer, as well as through out the show. I can identify with the main character, Alex, as her boyfriend punches a hole in the wall next to her, as he throws dishes at her head (for not being done right away), and her covering her ears and rocking back and forth while crying — I have been her and rocked. I see my abuser in her boyfriend, especially the part where he is an alcoholic. It was real. It happened. I could feel my heart lurching, then ache out of sympathy, as I continued to watch.
My suggestion is, if you want to watch, watch only one episode at a time in order to digest it and recover from triggers that it might evoke. I personally cannot help but want to watch the next episode to see what happens to Alex further, but I’ve had to make myself pause and take a moment. This is intense. It’s deep and will make victims and survivors flash back a bit. I have even cried, because I know where that character was mentally — because I was there before and it takes me back. You cannot help but identify with her fully: not only through the abuse experiences but all of the challenges and set backs experienced upon leaving. Leaving an abuser is not for the faint of heart. If you’re in, you have to be ALL IN.
Well done, Netflix! I still have 3 of the 10 episodes to go, but I am invested now. I don’t see this being continued, because they call it a “limited series,” but now I need to read the book that it’s based on by Stephanie Land. This was her life and chose to be the “working poor,” than to be bullied and abused any more by her significant other. Another relation point…I am SO there…
Watch this series with caution: it will make you feel, and not necessarily good things…
