The Butler

In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines waits in the White House for the chance to meet the newly inaugurated president. As he waits, he looks back on his life, and his memories take him back to childhood. Cecil is born and raised on a cotton plantation in Macon, Georgia, the son of Black sharecroppers who work land that does not belong to them. It is the 1920s, Jim Crow laws are still in force, and the family lives at the mercy of the white landowner who controls the farm. The boy watches in silence, learns not to raise his voice, and measures every gesture, because in that world one careless moment can cost dearly. Meanwhile, in the foyer of the presidential residence, memories surface one after another, and the older man lets them come.