The Help poster

The Help (2011)

Film · 2h 26m · Rated PG-13

Drama

Three women in 1960s Mississippi forge an unlikely bond that challenges societal norms and inspires change.

Earnest and uplifting. A family watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Prime Video and Tubi (free).

The Help parents guide

It stays inside its PG-13, with no sex or nudity and mild language.

Rated PG-13, but by what is on screen our estimate is fine from about 7.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
No gore
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity
None noted
Language
Mild
Mild words like damn, hell or crap.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

What is The Help about?

Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

Yes. It lands on a happy note.

Cast and crew

Directed byTate Taylor
StarringEmma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O'Reilly

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.