The Help Wins The Hearts Of The UK Audiences And Critics

Following its outstanding US box office success, The Help is winning the hearts of audiences and critics in the UK with fantastic word of mouth and stellar 4 star reviews.  The Help has taken £2.1 million in the UK, racing ahead of George Clooney’s “Ides of March” and building a strong following. Having taken over $166million in the US, the phenomenon of the film’s US box office success continues, as it closes in on the box office figure for summer smash hit, “Bridesmaids”. The Help is also the only title since “Inception” to have stayed at #1 in the US for three consecutive weeks.  It also held onto the top box office spot for 27 consecutive days, the first time a film has done so since the release of The Sixth Sense, and polled as the second most popular film this summer (after Harry Potter) with American cinemagoers.

At the recent Hollywood Film Awards ceremony Academy Nominee Viola Davis, who plays Aibileen commented, “It’s not only been a box-office success, it’s been a heart success for people.” She and a number of the film’s cast members were on hand to accept the prize for best ensemble.  She added “People feel again. They’re coming out of this movie feeling something and not just saying, ‘Oh, it was a great escape for two hours.’ Their hearts have been convicted. That’s big.”

Hot on the heels of the film’s UK release, Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel took the number 1 spot in The Sunday Times Best Sellers List this weekend, jumping up from the number 2 slot.  The book has now sold 10 million copies in the US (staying on the New York Times bestseller list for a staggering 103 weeks), and 1.3 million copies in the UK, largely driven by reader word of mouth and book groups and has also become the first novel to sell 1 million e-books.

Based on the 2008 bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett, The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s, and chronicles the relationship between three different and extraordinary women who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk.  It is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change. The film is both inspirational and empowering, featuring relatable, funny, courageous characters who, by finding their unique voices, triumph and become the heroes of their own lives.