The Nanny Diaries

Wow wow wow. Okay, so this film was DEFINITELY better than I expected. And I don’t mean in an Oscar-winning, “greatest film of all time” film bro type of way. I mean it was just genuinely really heartfelt and beautiful 🥲.

Scarlett Johansson plays Annie, a young woman who has just graduated college and has absolutely no idea what she wants to do with her life. She’s torn between her passion for anthropology—a career she actually cares about but that isn’t necessarily going to make her rich—and the pressure she feels to make her hard-working, working-class mother proud by getting a “real” job and making more money than she ever did. And girl… I JUST graduated high school and I already relate 🥹. I completely understand that feeling of having a parent work so hard for you to have a better future and then feeling like you have to make the “right” choices so you don’t disappoint them.

Enter Mrs. X, played by the talented Laura Linney, a wealthy Upper East Side mother who hires Annie as the nanny for her young son, Grayer. And from there, the film explores class differences, infidelity, motherhood, and, most importantly, the importance of actually living your life for yourself and the people you love rather than constantly trying to meet society’s expectations.

The relationship between Annie and Mrs. X is really the backbone of the movie. They’re essentially two women on completely opposite ends of the class spectrum whose lives are both kind of falling apart. Mrs. X has all the money, luxury, and material things you could want, but her actual life is miserable. Her husband, Mr. X, is constantly cheating on her, brushing her off, and making it VERY clear that neither she nor their son is a priority to him. Yet she stays and desperately tries to get his attention anyway. At one point she literally fakes a pregnancy just to force him to stay on their family vacation 😭. Like girl… this is DEPRESSING, STAND UP. Especially because your fucking husband looks literally like a Discord server fucking master who has like 1000 kittens. 🌝

And what makes it even more frustrating is that she takes all of this out on Annie, who has literally nothing to do with their marital problems. Annie is just trying to take care of Grayer—the child Mrs. X is supposed to be taking care of herself—and Mrs. X is constantly demanding, rude, ungrateful, and downright cruel to her.

But I also found myself feeling empathy for Mrs. X despite all of that. Because the reality is that she technically has everything she could want, but she doesn’t really have a life of her own. The relationships surrounding her aren’t genuine, her husband doesn’t respect her, and she’s basically built her entire existence around maintaining the image of this perfect family. It’s sad as hell.

And because the entire story is told from Annie’s perspective, you really feel like you’re experiencing everything alongside her. You’re stuck in this family’s insanity with her, watching everything unfold from her point of view. Which honestly made me understand her frustration because GIRL… if I were Annie, I would’ve quit on DAY ONE. But I digress.

Annie’s personal journey was probably my favorite part, though. She’s genuinely struggling to figure out what she wants to do with her life while feeling like she should be doing something else. She knows what she’s passionate about, but she also feels responsible for making the people around her proud. And again… girl, I GET YOU 🥲.

And then there’s Harvard Hottie™—CHRIS EVANS. Her love interest in this movie, also BLACK WIDOW AND CAP, OML 😭. ANYWAY. He jokes that Annie has basically developed Stockholm syndrome with this family, but honestly… HE WASN’T WRONG.

Because Annie becomes so emotionally invested in this family that she can’t bring herself to leave even when they treat her like shit. She genuinely grows to love Grayer, and despite everything Mrs. X puts her through, she even starts to care about her. She becomes so wrapped up in their lives that quitting stops being as simple as just walking away from a shitty job.

And honestly, I really felt for her because girl… damn. It’s hard being an empath for real 🥲.

Then we get to the family trip, and OH MY FUCKING GOD.

Mr. X literally tries to touch Annie and instead of Mrs. X reacting like, “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MY HUSBAND???” she basically just stands there. Annie leaves because she needs to collect her thoughts, and when she comes back…

SHE’S FIRED.

HELLOOOOOOO?????

I would’ve smacked the shit out of that bitch right there. We would’ve had to fight. And I’m not a fighter, but we WOULD have had to fight 😭.

CAUSE HOW WAS YOUR UGLY BALD-HEADED HUSBAND GONNA TRY TO TOUCH ME AND THEN YOU’RE GONNA FIRE ME??? AND THEN YOU’RE GONNA PAY ME FORTY DOLLARS??? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING???

YOU HAVE GOT TO GO.

I digress. I digress.

But genuinely, that scene was so sad because it becomes clear that Annie isn’t just upset about losing her job. She genuinely cares about Grayer and, in her own complicated way, even cares about Mrs. X. She’s been completely absorbed into their lives, and then she gets fired like she means absolutely nothing to them. JUSTICE FOR ANNIE. I DON’T GIVE A FUCK.

And yes, she eventually gets to say her piece, but first of all, she doesn’t even get her FINAL PAYCHECK. DA FUCK??? I would’ve had her ass in court so fast 😭.

Second, I know this is probably the point, but it did bother me that nobody really faces any meaningful consequences for how they treated Annie. Mr. X is probably just gonna continue living his life like nothing happened. Mrs. X gets divorced, the gaggy tape of the century is released, which is obviously embarrassing and painful for her, but ultimately it’s probably for the best. Still… I’M ANNOYED. I wanted more justice for my girl 😭.

I did really love the ending, though. Throughout the movie, Annie uses fake names for everyone in her nanny diary because she wants to protect their identities, in a way that mirrors how Mrs. X never really calls Annie by her name either—she’s simply “the nanny.” They both reduce the other to a role: Annie sees her as Mrs. X, the demanding employer, while Alexandra sees Annie as the nanny, the employee who is there to take care of her son. By the end, Annie finally starts referring to people by their real names, and Alexandra finally uses Annie’s name. I thought that was really beautiful symbolism because, for the first time, they’re actually acknowledging each other as people rather than just the roles they played in each other’s lives.

They both finally stop hiding behind the identities they’ve created for themselves and start living their own lives. Annie is able to reconnect with her boyfriend and pursue the life she actually wants, while Alexandra—Mrs. X—begins to focus on herself and her son rather than desperately trying to hold together a marriage that was never making her happy. And even though I highly doubt those two are ever going to be besties after everything that happened 💀, they finally say each other’s names and acknowledge the impact they had on one another’s lives. There’s still this sense that Annie has finally reclaimed her own identity and stopped allowing other people’s expectations to dictate her life, while Alexandra has finally started doing the same.

Anyways, overall, I REALLY loved this movie. I liked it way more than I thought I was going to. Is it weird that I kind of want a sequel? 😭 There isn’t necessarily a whole lot of story left to tell, but I’m personally invested now. I need to know what happens to these people!!! I feel like I just spent two hours living in their chaotic little world, and now you expect me to just leave???

I would definitely recommend this movie, especially to girls. Not that men CAN’T enjoy it—I mean, it’s a drama, anyone can like it—but it definitely has that very specific “girl movie” energy. You know what I mean. It’s giving GIRL FILM.

And Chris Evans was there, so technically the men have representation.

Although, sidenote: he was kind of getting on my nerves 😭. Like, I GET IT. I’m sorry your mom died. I’m sorry your dad was shitty. I genuinely am. But baby… YOU ARE RICH.

Maybe this is just my personal opinion as a poor person, but you are going to be OKAY 😭. Like, obviously money can’t bring your mother back, and I’m not trying to diminish that grief, but this man is over here going, “My daddy didn’t love me 🥺,” while Annie is trying to figure out her entire future and what the hell she’s supposed to do with her life.

Sir.

You’ll survive.

ANYWAYS. Whatever the fuck. Bye. 💀