The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

The Secret Life Of Bees is a 2008 film based on a book of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd, with Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo in lead roles. It follows the story of Lily Owens who flees from her abusive father, alongside Rosaleen who worked on their family orchard. Through items left from her deceased mother, Lily rewinds time finding refuge with three sisters who run a honey business, and as the movie unfolds parallels between past and present are revealed through a tale of love, family and belonging.

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I picked this movie up from a charity shop shelf - I must have seen someone recommend it before because the name alone prompted me to bring it home with me. The casting is great and I’ll watch anything with Queen Latifah in. As a vegan, beekeeping definitely isn’t something I’d promote but within this film it’s simply a vehicle to explore themes of community and purpose.

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A surprising stand out for me was Alicia Keys, who I’ve never seen act before. I felt really drawn to her character and how guarded she was at first, before slowly opening up to Lily’s presence. Sophie Okonedo was incredible too and represented how heavily oppression can weigh on people; you could feel that the whole world existed on her shoulders, every grief a burden of her own. Queen Latifah delivered as she always does, offering a character that felt like a warm hug, comforting and kind.

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Dakota Fanning gives a great performance too, as part of a track record of impressive delivery in multiple films. It’s the first film I’d seen Paul Bettany in besides the Avengers franchise, who plays her dad, and I think he captured how losing someone can warp a person and their relationships with other people - especially when resentment is involved too. I think in a way it also represented how some men can’t stand rejection, as we see in T.Ray’s reaction to Deborah leaving him.

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The special features includes commentaries, deleted scenes and outtakes, with many short films that capture the creative process from inception to the finished product, including cast interviews and a tour of the set. You can feel the sisterhood that was built between the cast, beyond what is already written into the movie.

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I’m really grateful I got the chance to watch this, and I know it’s a film I’ll be coming back to time and time again. It’s always important to be critical of white authors that create stories featuring Black characters, but I think this specific work is dealt with sensitively, perhaps within the movie adaptation more than the book because it was directed by a Black woman; though I haven’t read the book to corroborate this. I think what’s special is that through all the oppressiveness of the time period, there’s also so much light too and we get to see a family of Black women thriving amongst it all, but not without their hardships too.