Chichester Cinema at New Park
The Help
A look at what happens when a southern town's unspoken code of rules and behaviour is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.
Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives - and a small Mississippi town - upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up - to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.
Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories, and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves.
Based on one of the most talked about books in years (by Kathryn Stockett) and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, ‘The Help’ is a provocative and inspiring look at what happens when a southern town’s unspoken code of rules and behaviour is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship. With an almost entirely female cast the ensemble performances by Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Bryce Dallas Howard and Allison Janney are wonderful.
Veteran actresses Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson also deliver incredible performances. Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humour and hope, this is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change.
USA · 2011 · Tate Taylor
