Cama adentro (2004)

The Argentine film Cama adentro (Live-In Maid) could be an upstairs downstairs story except the two protagonists, an upper middle class woman fallen on hard times and her live in-maid, live on the same floor in the moderately sized apartment they have shared for thirty years. And, as the film shows, the two women do not live in two worlds but one. Made with a surprisingly assured hand by first time director Jorge Gaggero Wonderfully acted by both the leads. The film is made for domestic audiences (for example no direct reference is made to the 2001 economic crisis that shook Argentina) and the characters are both very, very strong Argentine types without them overplaying it. The film is still accessible to viewers unfamiliar with Argentine although knowledge of Spanish is helpful; the subtitles are pretty poorly done.

PS- Easily passes the The Bechdel Test