Every country has skeletons in its closet. Some have been hidden, most are very visible.
Some are infamous, some less known. Slavery and its treatment of African-Americans is one of the United States' "skeletons".
The Butler gives us an insight into this period of history through the parallels it draws between the political landscape of the time and the life of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), the black butler to eight US presidents.
Based loosely on the life of Eugene Allen, the movie is a real eye-opener to the abhorrent things that went on during the 20th century.
Gaines began serving white people after his father was shot dead by a white landholder in the Deep South after his mother had been raped by the same man.