Film: The Help (12A)

Director: Tate Taylor

It’s always tough going when change is about. It’s also exciting, invigorating and sometimes quite scary – and this change we are talking about is on a national sociological level. However, as it happened 50 years ago there appears to be another distance for this film to be uplifting without being too socially challenging itself. This is Disney’s release you know.

Anyway, here’s the skinny. It’s Mississippi in the 1960s and Skeeter (Julia Stone) is a society girl and aspiring writer just back from college who comes up with the idea to interview the black women who have spent much of their lives looking after the prominent white families.

Initially no one will speak to her but then Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper becomes the first to open up. Facing opposition from both of their communities, an unlikely friendship emerges between the two women and slowly others step forward to add their tales to Skeeter’s chronicles. Times are-a-changing, whether anyone’s happy about it or not, and everyone surely has an opinion on that. Probably quite a loud one.

Also starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain and Sissy Spacek.
Released 26 October
Showing at Odeon and Cineworld