What is the iRankMovies score for The Help?

Name: The Help
Director: Tate Taylor
Genre: drama
Released: 2011
Duration: 2 h 26 min
Rating: 8.1

The Help has an iRankMovies score of 75.7/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

The Help (2011)

Change begins with a whisper.

Release:2011

Runtime:2h 26m

Country:United States

Director:Tate Taylor

Language:English

Genre

Drama

See the best drama movies →

Keywords

Based On Novel Or BookMississippi RiverExploitationRacial SegregationRacismWriterMaidMoral Courage

iRank76

The Help rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.1/10· 525K votes

Rotten Tomatoes75%

Metacritic62%

TMDb8.202/10· 9K votes

With 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.1/10 on IMDb and 62/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About The Help

Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.

Cast of The Help

Emma Stone
as Skeeter Phelan
Viola Davis
as Aibileen Clark
Bryce Dallas Howard
as Hilly Holbrook
Octavia Spencer
as Minny Jackson
Jessica Chastain
as Celia Foote
Ahna O'Reilly
as Elizabeth Leefolt
Allison Janney
as Charlotte Phelan
Anna Camp
as Jolene French
Eleanor Henry
as Mae Mobley
E
Emma Henry
as Mae Mobley
Chris Lowell
as Stuart Whitworth
Cicely Tyson
as Constantine Jefferson

The Help facts

Budget: $25M
Box office: $216.6M

Our take on The Help

Tate Taylor's 2011 drama weaves together three women's lives in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen, an African-American maid who has raised white children and recently lost her only son; Minny, a fellow maid whose sharp tongue keeps costing her jobs her family can't afford to lose; and Skeeter, a young white college graduate who returns home to find her childhood maid gone. Their intersecting stories expose how a town's daily life rests on the labor of women it keeps at arm's length. It suits viewers who want an emotionally engaging, character-led drama about race, dignity and quiet courage, told with warmth as well as anger.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Tate Taylor depicts 1960s dramatic racism exploitation with emotional weight
•Novel adaptation explores desperate characters with cautionary moral clarity
•Strong ensemble cast brings authentic humanity to exploitation narrative

What the audience disliked

•Some dramatic moments feel sentimentalized rather than authentically devastating
•White savior narrative elements occasionally undercut authentic character complexity