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Tell It to the Bees

2018

Annabel Jankel

Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger, Kate Dickie, Emun Elliott ...

5.7

1,235

Romance. Drama In 1950s small-town Britain, a doctor develops an intimate relationship with her young patient's mother. A single mother Lydia (Holliday Grainger) who is abandoned by her husband, meets the small village's Doctor Jean Markham (Anna Paquin) who has recently returned to her hometown when Lydia's son Charlie is taken under the doctor after being bullied in school. When Lydia and Charlie are unhoused because of Lydia's earnings from her ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Dennis Harvey Variety	"A movie whose points are made in a way that might give viewers a concussion (...) 'Bees' is so full of forced emotions that it teeters on the brink of cliche-riddled camp."	NEG
United States	Leslie Felperin The Hollywood Reporter	"A bit sticky sweet but watchable. (...) It’s hard to dislike this pleasant, earnest work."	NEU
United States	Geoff Berkshire Los Angeles Times	"Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger elevate predictable romance (...) A movie that packs in so many serious issues (...) it can’t quite do justice to any of them."	NEU
United States	Christopher Schobert The Playlist	"It falls flat. There are a variety of reasons — one-note characters, an overly-familiar story arc, a laughable sequence of bee heroism..."	NEG
United States	Roxana Hadadi AV Club	"What 'Tell It To The Bees' accomplishes for queer romance it abandons with an ending that is committed to unnecessary melancholy."	NEU
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Despite the hefty talent involved, there’s a preposterous pass-agg tweeness to this film – a contrived and self-conscious affair (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United Kingdom	Clarisse Loughrey The Independent	"Impressive performances save an otherwise predictable tale (...) A period drama with no sting (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Allan Hunter Screendaily	"[A] tasteful, touching adaptation (...) 'Tell It To The Bees' can seem a little too respectable for its own good but there are moments of pain and heartbreak that rise to the surface"	POS
United States	Monica Castillo rogerebert.com	"For those of us who like our historical dramas, 'Tell It to the Bees' serves up plenty of the sub-genre’s hallmarks (...) I could feel something was emotionally out of place (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Robbie Collin Telegraph	"[It displays] near-'Braveheart' levels of cultural tone-deafness (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
Ireland	Tara Brady Irish Times	"Dull and contrived (...) Sadly, there’s nothing very interesting about 'Tell It to the Bees' (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
Ireland	Paddy Kehoe RTÉ	"[It] should have told less (...) What might have been, in more capable hands, an indie gem is instead a melodramatic TV movie (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 5)"	NEG
Ireland	Tanya Sweeney Irish Independent	"It’s a touching and tender tale, seasoned with perhaps a spoonful too much schmaltz (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU

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