A young maid finds herself at a crossroads, in Maxim Kelly's mesmerising promo for Ethel. Waiting hand and foot on a slightly surreal family, we see the main character run errands and try to stay out of the way, as the father figure lip-syncs to the track, getting oppressively close to her wherever she tries to escape to. Ending with a climactic dance in the living room - performing to the awkwardly apathetic parents and daughter - the video is haunting and contemplative, echoing films from French and Korean arthouse cinema. A subtle manipulation of the textures of the image at certain points also heightens the surreality of the concept, which creates an unnerving atmosphere.“Initially I thought Ethel should be the main character and do the dance at the end, and I always had this image from this French film called My American Uncle, where it’s like a little girl standing up at a table," Kelly explains. "I originally had that image in my head for a rap video, but it didn’t really make sense to the song. I wanted this to feel more like surreal so then as I started finding more imagery. It kind of transpired that maybe the maid was the more interesting character.”
Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022