Based on the book of the same name by Kathryn Stockett, the Help is about African-American maids who face discrimination working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. The movie follows Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), an African-American maid who has spent most of her life raising white children but has become bitter after her own son died in an accident. Her friend, Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), also a maid, faces abuse from her employer as well as her own family. Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan (Emma Stone), a white girl, who, after four years of college, returns to find her family maid fired and witnesses the horrible injustice that maids face at the hands of her own friends. She approaches Aibileen and Minny, determined to write a book to expose the racism and hardships the maids go through everyday. Aibileen and Minny reluctantly agree and these three couragous women's unlikely friendship threatens to change the town's social and political landscape forever.

The Help is an amazing movie filled with amazing characters. The movie is interesting from beginning to end. It is little over 2 hours in length but you won't even notice it because it is so good! You'll laugh, cry and cheer for the unlikely heroins. You'll empathize with the maids and love to hate Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard). My favourite character was Minny, her sassy attitude never fails to make the audience laugh and often steals the scene. All the actresses did an amazing job, maybe even Oscar worthy.

The movie deals with a difficult topic and it successfully illustrates how racism was rampant in America and how people dealt with it and strove for change.

I highly highly recommend it. It's a MUST SEE.

The Help is in theatres tomorrow, Wednesday August 10th, 2011.