The Help is #249 on my snapshot list of the Top 250 Movies on IMDb that I’m working my way through on Letterboxd. With an absolute all star cast of Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, and Bryce Dallas Howard, this movie is incredibly well written and performed. The story is painful to sit through, but not because it’s bad. It’s the type of movie that makes you want to do better for your fellow man and make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

There are a few exceptions to the greatness, like the fact that Viola Davis regrets taking this role and that Emma Stone’s character became a white savior to this group of women. There’s also the issue of the author of the historical fiction novel this movie is based off of stating that it is totally fictional. She was sued by a woman claiming that her stories were reproduced without her permission in the author’s novel.

The Help is available to stream on HBO Max.