Yes. More sad than 82% of well-known films. This describes how the film comes across as a whole, measured against other well-known films; it is not a content list.

Does The Butler end with hope?

Somewhat. More hopeful than 62% of well-known films. This describes how the film comes across as a whole, measured against other well-known films; it is not a content list.

Not especially. Less frightening than 58% of well-known films. This describes how the film comes across as a whole, measured against other well-known films; it is not a content list.

Is The Butler violent?

About average. Almost exactly mid-range for a well-known film. This describes how the film comes across as a whole, measured against other well-known films; it is not a content list.

Is The Butler easy watching?

About average. Almost exactly mid-range for a well-known film. This describes how the film comes across as a whole, measured against other well-known films; it is not a content list.

The Butler

Name: The Butler
Genre: Drama
Released: 2013
Duration: 132 min
Rating: 7.3
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, John Cusack, Jane Fonda

One quiet voice can ignite a revolution.

Directed by Lee Daniels

Produced by Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures

2013132 min7.3 / 10

A multigenerational historical drama about a Black butler's quiet witness to American presidents and the civil rights movement, balanced against his family's internal struggles and his own moral reckoning.

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.

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Questions people ask

Is The Butler sad? Yes. More sad than 82% of films.
Does The Butler end with hope? Somewhat. More hopeful than 62% of films.
Is The Butler scary? Not especially. Less frightening than 58% of films.
Is The Butler violent? About average. Almost exactly mid-range.
Is The Butler easy watching? About average. Almost exactly mid-range.

These describe how the film comes across, measured across the whole film and compared with other well-known films. They are not a content list — nothing here was counted or checked scene by scene, so for age-suitability or specific content use a classification board or a dedicated content-warning service.