Fresh
There's a purity, clarity and honesty to this feminist heart-warmer's melodramatic instincts that make it surprisingly moving and satisfying.
Wally Hammond, Time Out
The Secret Life of Bees
Bring Your Girlfriends, Sisters, Mothers and Daughters.
2008 · 1h 54m · PG-13
Adventure, Drama, Family
Directed by
Gina Prince-Bythewood
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The Secret Life of Bees
Overview
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
Director and cast
- Gina Prince-Bythewood Director
- Dakota Fanning as Lily Owens
- Queen Latifah as August Boatwright
- Jennifer Hudson as Rosaleen Daise
- Alicia Keys as June Boatwright
- Sophie Okonedo as May Boatwright
- Paul Bettany as T. Ray Owens
- Hilarie Burton as Deborah Owens
- Tristan Mack Wilds as Zach Taylor
- Nate Parker as Neil
- Shondrella Avery as Greta
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
60%
Tomatometer
Fresh
The filmmakers give Latifah and Fanning room to create characters that breathe in the sweet smell of clover and breathe out the contented sigh of independence.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Rotten
Sweat and good intentions, however, will take you only so far. And they take Bees right up to the threshold of entertaining%u2014but not one step further.
Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune
Rotten
The honey runs thick in The Secret Life of Bees, and so does the treacle.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
Fresh
It's hard to roll your eyes when they're full of tears.
Dana Stevens, Slate
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