–The Phone Call–
A morning in the North of France–Leila, our protagonist, is driving to work, enjoying singing along to a popular American song. While driving, she receives a phone call for a job interview. As a hard worker, Leila is constantly applying for new job opportunities–sometimes even sending 100 resumes per day. Forgetting what she’s applied to, she accepts the interview without knowing what the job exactly is. The woman on the phone tells her that the interview will be the next day at 9 am. Leila receives a lot of calls for interviews, so she doesn’t think much of it and goes back to singing her favorite song right after hanging up the phone.
On her way to work, she stops at her favorite bakery where one of her friends works: Sofian. Sofian and Leila grew up together. Sofian is a hard worker, he has worked at his family’s bakery from a young age. Sofian has always had a crush on Leila. As Leila gets her morning croissant, Sofian finally asks her out and she accepts. Sofian promises to cook for her.
The next day, Leila wakes up late and hurriedly straightens her hair, burning it in the process. She barely makes it to the interview. She enters a big white room with four other young women sitting quietly. She rushes in out of breath and everyone looks at her as she enters the room. Leila feels relieved that she made it. However, she realizes that she hasn’t studied the company and has no idea what the job was for. She starts looking around and discreetly approaches one of the other women sitting, asking her what the job is. The other woman tells her that this is a position to become an Au Pair in the United States. Confused, she asked what an Au pair is. The woman explains what an Au Pair is and mentions that the interview will be conducted half in English.
–The Interview–
Leila doesn’t speak any English. English was her least favorite language at school. Leila doesn’t really care if she gets the job but she also knows that she will do anything to get the job in that moment. As a determined person, she believes that if you do something, you must do it right or simply not at all.
With very limited time, she goes back to her seat, gets her phone out of her pocket, and starts Googling English interview keywords. She tries to memorize them for the interview. Two minutes later, a woman in a fancy suit opens a door at the top of the room and calls her name.
Terrified, she responds with a smile and walks towards her. The woman closes the door behind her. An older man is in the room, also wearing a fancy suit. The interviewers start the interview in French and then switch to English. Leila tries to remember the keywords she just memorized as well as the words her old high school English teacher spoke and does her best. However, the two interviewers start smiling and mocking her tentative English. The interviewer concludes the interview, thanking Leila. Ignoring the mockery, Leila walks out confidently.
Back in the interview room: The two interviewers have a discussion about Leila’s interview. The Au Pair job is in high demand, so they decide to ignore her lack of English thinking that she doesn’t need to speak English to watch a baby.
Two weeks later, Leila is back in her car singing a popular French rap song. When she’s just about to sing her favorite part of the song, the song is interrupted by a phone call. She answers, annoyed. It’s the woman from the interview. Leila has almost forgotten about that interview but remembers as the woman explains the job description. The woman announces that Leila got the job and can start to talk online with the family today, and that she will leave the country next month. Confused and excited, she shares her excitement with the woman. She hangs up happy and when the music turns back on, she goes back to singing, even more excited.
–The Host Family–
In her small studio apartment, Leila starts talking to the family through an online chat room. She uses Google translate and is able to have a good conversation. They decide to do a video chat that same night. Leila gets ready and does her best to manage the call, focusing more on the baby. The baby is smiling and the family seems happy with the call, confirming that they want her as an Au Pair. Leila is happy, she hangs up and remembers that she needs to get ready for her date with Sofian.
At Sofian’s apartment, Sofian and Leila start having a casual conversation about his work and his day. Saddened, Leila then realizes that she has to tell him that she’s leaving next month. She tells him and Sofian is sad but also very excited for her and her new journey. They finish the night laughing and playing chess, As they usually do.
–Welcome to America–
Leila’s journey begins. She takes her flight directly to San Francisco, California.
When she gets to the SFO Airport, a private driver comes to pick her up. Looking out the window, Leila is amazed by the city and the diverse landscapes of the Bay Area. Everything is so different. The driver starts going up a very deep hill, and Leila gets dizzy.
–The House and The Family–
He stops in front of a beautiful house. Leila looks at the house from top to bottom in disbelief.
Suddenly, the front door opens. It’s the family–The mom, the dad, and the baby. They welcome her inside. Leila enters the house, looking all around, amazed by the fanciness of the place. She’s only seen houses like this in American movies. The mom gives her a tour of the house and then guides her to her new room. Her new room is bigger than her whole studio back in Lille. Amazed and overwhelmed, Leila jumps on the bed to call Sofian and show him but he’s sleeping in France. She goes back to thinking, taking videos of the room, and snapping selfies.
The next day, Leila wakes up in her new room. The mom explains Leila’s tasks and gives her the key to her new work car. She says Leila can use for herself as well. It’s a fancy car. Leila is ecstatic.
The mom goes to work. Leila is left with the baby and the keys to the car. She decides to drive around. Excited to drive in San Francisco and in California, she and the baby enjoy a summer ride set to French rap music.
–Tatiana–
Arriving in San Francisco, Leila walks around the beautiful streets of San Francisco with the baby. She then decides to go get a coffee somewhere. She gets a croissant and a coffee but is in shock at the price. She sits in the coffee shop with the baby. Another woman sits right next to her. She’s on the phone and seems to speak another language than English. It’s Russian. The woman seems angry and sad. The woman hangs up and looks at Leila. Leila starts talking to her and compliments her dress. The woman responds kindly. Her name is Tatiana. They start talking and Tatiana mentions she’s also an Au Pair. She is from Russia and just moved to San Francisco. Tatiana mentions that she has to go back to her house for her baby and invites Leila.
Arriving at Tatiana’s host family’s house, Leila realizes that she left the baby alone. Tatiana says that it doesn’t matter (comedic moment)–she tells Leila that she doesn’t like kids and that she became an Au Pair to come to the USA. She confesses that she doesn’t want to go back to her home country and that she faces misery and hunger in her village–that she is here to make a better life for herself and her future children.
–Identity–
Tatiana then asks Leila about her story and why she became an Au Pair. Leila starts sharing her story.
Tatiana gets two glasses of wine and assumes that because Leila’s French she should know all about wine. But Leila is Algerian, and Algerians are Muslim. Leila has never had wine in her life but she pretends that she knows and drinks it, and she spits it back into the glass as soon as Tatiana turns her back.
Leila talks about her parents and how her parents left Algeria to give her a better life. Even though Tatiana has a burden to carry, she knows what she wants. Leila starts asking herself what she wants. She doesn’t know. She has never thought about it.
Tatiana tells Leila that she will find what she wants to do soon enough. They smile and bond, starting to form a friendship.
A few days later, Leila is back in her host family’s house. She taking care of the baby while talking on the phone with Sofian. She explains to Sofian how Americans think that she’s French and that she knows all about wine. Americans consider her French while French people never do. In France, she was always considered Algerian, a minority– but now, in America, she’s French, and still foreign. She is having an identity crisis. Busy and not understanding what she’s really saying, Sofian tells her he has to hang up.
As Leila hangs up, her host mom comes to talk to her. The mom tells her that she’s going to be gone for the whole day and asks Leila to find creative ways to keep the baby active and entertained. She suggests Leila go to the basement and find activities to do.
–Art As An Outlet–
Leila goes to the basement with the baby and finds painting materials. She’s naturally attracted to them and brings them back up. She starts painting while the baby plays with the materials. She starts to get excited about her painting but the baby (covered in paint) touches the painting and messes up the painting. At first, Leila is upset but then she tries to fix the painting and it becomes even better after what the baby did. The baby and Leila keep enjoying painting and listening to music. They dance and fall asleep on the floor.
The mom is back and wakes up the baby and Leila. She sees the painting and asks Leila if her baby did it. Leila, as a joke, says yes.
–Womanhood–
The mom takes the baby back and tells Leila that she has the day free. She goes back to her room.
She then receives a phone call–it’s Tatiana. Tatiana tells her that she knows another Au Pair with a big house to herself. Her name is Vidushi. She’s from India. Tatiana invites Leila to come hang out with them and tells her to bring her swimsuit.
Leila, Tatiana, and Vidushi soak up the sun in front of the pool at Vidushi’s host family’s house. It’s an immense house, and the host family of Vidushi is always on vacation. Leila gets a little jealous. The three girls start talking and excitedly planning a girl’s road trip.
A few days later, the three girls are on the road singing “Call me maybe” together. They get to a beautiful beach in California and start making a fire. While enjoying the fire and the beach, they start talking about their cultures, backgrounds, and life stories. Tatiana and Vidushi share their knowledge about their countries’ histories. They then ask Leila about the history and culture of Algeria. But Leila realizes that she doesn’t know anything about Algeria and the history of her native country, except for the colonization of France. Sad and embarrassed, she offers to put on music and help them discover some music from her country. Then each of them put on one of their favorite songs and teach each other how to dance to them. They all dance and laugh together.
–Heritage–
Back in her room, Leila is on her computer looking for articles and videos about Algeria’s culture and history. She realized that she has no idea about the main natives of Algeria and the empires that influenced her culture. She discovers Queen El Kahina, who is the most famous queen of the Algerian culture. She’s amazed and inspired by her story. She has never heard of her. Now she can finally have a relatable female hero.
Back with the baby, Leila is painting with him. She receives a call. It’s Sofian. Leila tells him about her amazing girl’s trip and tells him about her new knowledge of Algeria’s history that they never learned in school. She also tells him that she misses him and that she feels homesick. Sofian has to hang up. There is still a bond between them, but there is an emotional disconnect because Leila has learned and experienced so much recently that Sofian hasn’t. Leila goes back to painting, Feeling alone and unmotivated.
— DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL–
When the mom goes back and takes the baby, Leila starts walking around the house but she’s not amazed anymore. The flashiness of the house has worn off, so she goes to her room and looks at her flag and picks up a family photograph. Staring at it, she starts crying. She calls her father and he doesn’t pick up. Her host mother knocks on the door and invites her to dinner. She wipes away her tears and comes down. Sitting at the dinner, she pushes food around her plate silently while everyone else talks and laughs. She stands up and everyone goes silent, then returns to their conversation. She excuses herself to go for a walk to take her mind off things. The family talks about how she is simply French for leaving. She hears them as she leaves and rolls her eyes.
Leila walks alone through the streets of SF. She sees a family laughing while having dinner. She walks through ethnic enclaves in SF (Chinatown, Little Italy, etc) and stares at them nostalgically, thinking of home as the sun sets. Then, she receives a call–it’s Tatiana. Tatiana wants to go out to meet a man in a salsa club. Leila is not in the mood but Tatiana insists.
Leila walks back home and goes straight to her room. She gets ready to go out, hearing the host family’s drunken laughter through the walls. She picks up her hair straightener and throws it in the trash. She decides on a more natural makeup look.
As Leila arrives at the Salsa club, Tatiana is already dancing and enjoying herself with a few different men and doesn’t even see Leila walk in. Leila looks around and finds a seat. A man comes up to her and invites her to dance. Leila says she doesn’t know how to salsa, but the man offers to teach her. She starts dancing and gets the hang of it immediately–the man is impressed. He asks her if she’s Latina and she stutters while trying to explain her heritage (French? Algerian?). He makes an innocent comment about her not being an American and she is devastated but tries not to show it.
Tatiana joins Leila and tells her she didn’t know that Leila danced salsa and Leila says she doesn’t. Another man asks Leila to dance but she has had enough of the club and leaves. We see her walking away in the dark, smoking a cigarette.
She goes back to her host family. She calls her real family band Sofian, but no one answers. She looks at the chessboard she and Sofian played with back home. She starts a painting but has no inspiration. Getting frustrated, starts crying and rips a hole in the canvas. We zoom in to see the hole in the painting.
–Time Jump (one to three years later)–
There is a Transition to Leila’s finished painting, zooming out from the hole to the entire painting. The hole is decorated and incorporated into the painting in a meaningful way. She goes outside.
Leila looks different and more mature in the way she dresses. Her hair is completely natural and she is wearing almost no makeup/expressive makeup (the key is that she is being true to herself). We see a montage of her going to the store, getting her groceries from a Spanish grocery store, speaking Spanish with the cashier, and going home to her own place. She hosts a party. Her family and Sofian are there. They are having a meal outside. Everyone is enjoying themselves, listening to music and eating traditional Algerian food. Leila’s dad is there. Leila goes to the kitchen and her father follows her–they have a meaningful and private conversation about Leila’s relationship with Sofian. Leila’s dad asks her when she plans to get married and Leila acts jokingly annoyed and goes back outside to join everyone.
Everyone talks, laughs, and eats–Leila is at peace.
The end.
