Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2012

An aspiring writer in Mississippi in the early ’60s hits on the idea of a book of stories about the virtual state of slavery endured by her town’s domestic maids, told from their own perspectives. This rewarding crowd-pleaser has been criticized for painting its characters with broad, good-or-evil strokes (indeed Bryce Dallas Howard’s racist housewife character is just a pointy hood short of a Klanswoman), but the excellent cast (Voila Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Emma Stone) easily makes up for this. There’s humor, both sly and overt, and I went away feeling entertained and rewarded.