The Help is an American drama that shows about the situation that the African-American maids face in the capital city of the state of Mississippi , Jackson . The movie was directed by Tate Taylor and was adapted from Kathryn Stockett 's book of the same name . The movie's main cast consists of Emma Stone , Viola Davis , Octavia Spencer , Bryce Dallas Howards , Jessica Chastain , Allison Janney , and A hna O'Reilly . In the city of Jackson, most of the maids are African-American women who work under white households. But as they work, they face discrimination and ill-treatment from their employers due to their dark complexion. Such is the case of Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, colored maids serving their own respective white households where they also experience discrimination. But, things may finally change when Eugenia Phelan, an aspiring journalist and a friend of their employers, aims to write a book based on the first-hand experiences th...