Tell It to the Bees (2018) Movie Review

『Forbidden Love and Healing Warmth, the Courage of Two Women Spreading Through a Small Town』

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: Tell It to the Bees (2018)
🌍 Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom / 🇨🇦 Canada
🎞️ Genre: Drama / Romance
🗓️ Production & Release: Element Pictures, 2018 release
⏳ Runtime: 106 minutes
📢 Director: Annabel Jankel
🖋️ Screenplay: Henrietta Ashworth
📖 Based on: Fiona Shaw's novel of the same name
📺 Platform: Theatrical release, later available on digital streaming services

👩‍💼 Cast: Anna Paquin – Jean Markham
Emily Watson – Lydia Weekes
Bobby Smalldridge – Charlie Weekes

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

🏡 Meeting and Bonding (Charlie and the Bees)

Jean returns to her rural hometown to inherit her father's house and begins working as a doctor. Lydia is struggling with marital issues and raising her young son Charlie alone. When Charlie encounters trouble at school, he comes to Jean's clinic and becomes interested in the bees she keeps, naturally growing close to her. When Lydia loses her job at the factory and faces eviction, Jean offers her and Charlie to live in her large estate, working as a housekeeper.

🐝 Living Together and a Secret Romance

Living under the same roof, Jean and Lydia's feelings quickly develop into love. Their relationship exists as a 'forbidden love' behind closed doors. Jean’s past secret (previous same-sex relationships) and Lydia’s current circumstances intertwine, making them sources of support and comfort for each other. When Charlie exposes their relationship to his father after a fight over a destroyed beehive, Lydia’s husband Robert abandons her. However, as Lydia grows closer to Jean, Robert displays jealousy and controlling behavior, violently threatening both women and creating significant obstacles to their relationship.

🌧️ Social Pressure and Heightened Conflict

Pam Stock (Robert's sister) considers her daughter's pregnancy a family shame and forces Annie into an unsafe back-alley abortion, putting her in critical condition. Jean successfully treats Annie, saving her life. Witnessing this, Charlie regrets his previous resentment toward his mother and Jean, reconciles with his mother, and restores their deep bond. Following these events, due to rumors and discrimination, Lydia leaves alone with her son Charlie. Jean remains in the village as a doctor, accepting the separation.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Thematic Significance

🍯 Confidant and Secret Keeper

Jean teaches Charlie that "it is okay to tell the bees all your secrets," which becomes the film's title.

Charlie’s secret repository: When struggling to understand his mother's romance, school bullying, and the complex emotions of adults, Charlie whispers to the beehive to release his pain and confusion. The hive represents a safe communication space, free from societal prejudice and judgment.

Jean’s solitude and solace: Jean also cares for the hive while enduring the village’s scrutiny and her own past traumas. The bees act as her only companions and empathetic listeners in a life of isolation.

⚖️ Community and Queer Identity

The beehive society contrasts with and reflects the outside community, mirroring the women’s relationship.

Exclusive community (the village): The townspeople, embodying the strict norms of the 1950s, view Jean and Lydia’s relationship as a threat and attempt to ostracize them as outsiders, not part of the 'queen bee' hierarchy.

The Hive: The bees live cooperatively in a secluded order. Jean and Lydia’s love symbolizes a private and safe community existing outside the mainstream village society. The hive demonstrates that their relationship is not a temporary deviation but a natural order of their lives.

Silence and hidden lives: Just as bees work quietly, Jean and Lydia’s love unfolds calmly and discreetly, representing queer identity and concealed love shielded from societal scrutiny.

👩‍❤️‍👩 Magical Protector and Instinct

The bees exert physical power and directly influence the narrative.

Protection from violence: A swarm attacks and drives away Robert when he attempts to harm Lydia.

Instinctive justice: This scene suggests that the bees act on Lydia’s behalf, serving as supernatural protectors for true love and justice. This symbolizes the instinctive and primal force of nature, contrasting with rational medicine (Jean’s profession), and emphasizes that the love between the two women is not ‘unnatural’ but in fact a natural instinct.

In conclusion, the bees in this film serve as secret keepers, symbols of a safe community, and protectors of the suppressed love between the two women, forming the central narrative axis connecting Jean, Charlie, and Lydia.

🎯 Personal (Taste-Based) Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★★