The film “The Help” takes place in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi and tells the story of young college graduate Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, who has just returned home with a degree from university. Skeeter doesn’t want to get married and have children quickly so she dreams of being a writer and she soon gets job writing a cleaning column for the local newspaper. In order to do this, she will need the advice of Aibileen. Aibileen is the maid for Skeeter’s best friend, Elizabeth. She does all the cooking, she cleans, she goes to the grocery story, and most important, she takes care of Elizabeth's daughter Mae Mobley.
Skeeter decides to write a book exposing what life is like from the point of view of the help, the African American women who cook, clean and raise white children, only to have those children grow up and become their bosses. Although reluctant at first, Aibileen is the first maid to agree to talk with Skeeter. She is motivated by a desire to remember her son, who dies in an accident at work. When Skeeter tells her editor in New York, she gets the green light and starts writing.
The next maid to agree to tell her story is Minny, Aibileen’s best friend and an excellent cook. Minny works for Miss Hilly Holbrook, the town's queen bee and the leader of all public life in Jackson. Miss Hilly's very manipulative and racist, which is too much for Minny, so she gets fired. Minny wants to get revenge and she will do a "terrible, awful thing”. After that, Minny goes to work for Celia Foote, a nice young lady who is considered white trash by Hilly and her friends.
As racial tensions rise and tragedy strikes in the town, more maids find the courage to tell their personal stories anonymously. They know they can get into trouble for telling the truth, but the courageous women will tell everything for a book that has the potential to turn their Mississippi town completely upside down. They will realize that everyone has the power to inspire change.