The Help

In 1963, Aibileen Clark is an African-American maid in Jackson, Mississippi. She works for socialite Elizabeth Leefolt and cares for the Leefolts' daughter Mae Mobley, whom Elizabeth neglects. Aibileen's best friend and fellow maid Minny Jackson works for Mrs. Walters, whose daughter Hilly Holbrook leads the women's socialite group.

Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a recent graduate of Ole Miss and an aspiring writer, is a friend of Elizabeth. Skeeter is uncomfortable with her social circle's racist attitudes toward their maids, including Hilly's insistence on installing separate bathrooms for the help. Skeeter learns that her mother Charlotte fired Constantine, the maid who raised Skeeter, and decides to write a book of interviews with African-American maids working for white families.