Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Equally heartwarming and gut-wrenching, this is the real-life story of Cecil Gaines, a butler who served eight presidents in the White House. Portrayed sincerely and flawlessly by Academy Award Winner Forest Whitaker, the film takes place during tremulous times for both Cecil and the country — and gives you the world from his perspective, his struggles, and his opinions. It’s a beautiful and affecting film that will leave you with a simple yet deep emotional impact.

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.