JESUS CHRIST! Why not fade to black at the beach scene?!

Yes, I thought that might be the end, and was a bit surprised when the movie continued.

They should have faded to black after the interminable opening credits.

Because he didn't want his film to end like a cheesy ad for life insurance.

I agree it would have been great. I think he wanted the opening sequence to coincide with the closing credits.

"and nothing happens" - this isn't true at all though.

The scene on the beach shows what feels like a united moment between Cleo and the family - where she feels like part of the family.

But when she returns back to the house, it's shown again that it's all talk and not true. She is, at the end of the day, still just a maid to them. It's probably a subconscious effort on the family's part as it's all they know, but there's moments in the film where true colors come out. There are multiple parallels of the maids to the family dogs, when one dies they're just replaced. I'm sure it's sad, but hey we can just get a new one.

At the department store, the grandmother I'm sure feels like she is treating Cleo like a member of the family - they are purchasing from the same place they bought for the grandchildren. But once gain, it's verbally confirmed that Cleo is 'the maid'. It's not necessary for her to say so, but an audible line of dissociation is drawn between the two of them.

Even before the beach, the mother tells the kids that they're inviting Cleo and that it's a vacation for her and not her job. In reality, we see Cleo is the one changing the children and left in charge of the kids because the mother doesn't want to do it. If they'd left her at the house, maybe then it would've actually felt like a vacation but then the mother would actually have put some effort in to raising her children.

"fifteen more minutes and nothing happens." Yes, that was on purpose. It was a microcosm of the entirety of this film. A final symbol of the complete absence of a narrative arc. The perfect conclusion, when you stop and think about it.

I was sort of thinking the same thing.