Movies like The Help that dive into tough topics well don’t come around every day. Let’s face it, sometimes the hardest topics aren’t easy for any of us to talk about but a good dramatic movie can make us think, help us open up to great conversations, and sometimes even change for the better. Need some inspiration? Check out these movies like The Help.
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5 Dramatic Movies Like The Help To Watch More Than Once
The Help is a 2011 period drama movie that is adapted from the 2009 book of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. The movie stars Emma Stone as Eugenia Phelan, Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark and Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson. Eugenia Phelan is an aspiring author, who writes a book about the lives of two black maids, working for white families during the 1960’s. Here are some movies like The Help.
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life is a 2011 drama movie starring Brad Pitt as Mr. O’Brien, Jessica Chastain as Mrs. O’Brien and Sean Penn as Jack O’Brien. The Tree of Life is told through the eyes of Jack O’Brien, the eldest son of the O’Brien family in Waco in 1956. Jack is now a middle-aged man who reflects on the family struggles.
The Secret Life of Bees
The Secret Life of Bees is a 2008 drama movie that is based on the 2001 book of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd. The movie is set is 1964 in South Carolina and focuses on Lily Owens, a teenage girl who leaves town with her caregiver Rosaleen Daise, after she accidentally kills her mother. They end up in a town that her mother grew up in, where she takes a liking to beekeeping and learns the true meaning of love by May, June and August Boatwright and her new love, Zach Taylor. The Secret Life of Bees stars Dakota Fanning as Lily Owens, Jennifer Hudson as Rosaleen Daise, Sophie Okondo as May Boatwright, Alicia Keys as June Boatwright, Queen Latifah as August Boatwright and Tristan Wilds as Zach Taylor.
Ghosts of Mississippi
Ghosts of Mississippi is a 1996 drama movie that chronicles the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist who was accused of killing civil rights activist Medgar Evers in 1963. Ghosts of Mississippi stars James Woods as Byron De La Beckwith, James Pickens Jr. as Medgar Evers, Whoopi Goldberg as Myrlie Evers and Alec Baldwin as Bobby DeLaughter.
The Long Walk Home
The Long Walk Home is a 1990 drama movie starring Whoopi Goldberg as Odessa Cotter and Sissy Spacek as Miriam Thompson. The Long Walk Home is set in Montgomery Alabama in 1955 and focuses on two women, Miriam Thompson, a white woman and Odessa Cotter, a black woman, who make choices regarding the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Won’t Back Down
Won’t Back Down is a 2012 drama movie that stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Jamie Fitzpatrick and Viola Davis as Nona Alberts. Won’t Back Down is the story of two mothers, Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts, who risk everything to make a difference in their children’s declining inner city school.
So what do you think of these movies like the Help? Do you enjoy watching these dramas dealing with tough topis? Tell me in the comments!
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