Kara gets a job at the historic home of George and Martha Washington, playing an enslaved housemaid...and uncovers the fate of the real woman she is portraying.
ENJOY YOUR VISIT is a darkly comic drama. Kara, a 22-year-old Black woman, starts a new job playing an enslaved housemaid at the historic home of George and Martha Washington. Visitors press her to say that the Washingtons were kind to the real historic character she is playing, Caroline Branham. Kara delivers her scripted replies until she breaks character in frustration. Pearl, 65, white, who plays Martha, overhears and advises Kara to never break character to maintain the visitor experience. Kara tries to protect herself from increasingly invasive attention from visitors but she is getting worn down. Kara comes upon a Black woman spray painting the name Lucy on the ground. The woman asks if Kara knows who she is. Kara shakes her head no. Later, she asks Pearl who replies that whoever did that is very ill-bred. Kara finds a package addressed to Caroline Branham. Inside, is a book. She searches the index for Lucy but there is nothing. The book is about Caroline’s predecessor at Mount Vernon, Ona Judge, who ran away from the Washingtons, and was never caught. At the end of the book Kara finds a handwritten name and address. Kara asks her young white colleague Tess who plays Martha’s granddaughter what happened to Nicole. Tess falters that one day Nicole was in the enslaved people's cemetery and "snapped." Kara seeks out Nicole to find out who Lucy is. What she learns propels her to challenges Pearl’s glorification of the Washingtons in front of a group of visitors. “After she dies, her grandson George inherits me and rapes me. I give birth to a daughter Lucy. (to Pearl) Your great granddaughter.” Upset, Pearl says they’re all in the process of becoming Americans. They’re doing the best they can. Kara: “Well, I think we can do better--right? Right?” But the crowd avoids her gaze and her colleagues are silent. Kara swallows, telling the crowd to enjoy their visit. She walks off, tossing her apron and cap, the audacity of what she's just done making her laugh. Behind her, in the distance, we see Tess break away from the visitors and run after Kara.
