if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This movie just misses 10/10 for me. It's a beautiful story, the movie is stunningly shot and all the actors are brilliant, especially Sophie Okonedo. I'm docking a point because it centres Dakota Fanning's character, Lily, a young white girl, instead of centring the stories of women of colour, which is crucial for a film exploring issues of race during the civil rights movement. In all other respects, however, this film is fantastic. The inevitable violence that any civil rights story has is counterpointed by the safe, secret world which August, May, and June create. Beekeeping acts as a metaphor for female solidarity. I would definitely recommend this film.

Dakota Fanning gives a sensitive, thoughtful, if somewhat familiar performance as a troubled white teenager in the racially-charged South, circa 1964, who has run away from her abusive father and now finds herself boarding with three black sisters in South Carolina who have inherited the family business, manufacturing and jarring the best honey in the county. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood also adapted her overcooked script from Sue Monk Kidd's bestseller, and the melodramatic entanglements that push the plot forward are often ridiculous and illogical. Prince-Bythewood, attempting to get every little nugget of sentimentality and 'importance' from Kidd's novel onto the screen, leaves some of her supporting characters wanting--what with a perplexing (and unlikely) suicide and the kidnapping of an innocent black boy by police which is summed up by an infuriating series of hugs. The ladies (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo) are an interesting, magnetic trio, but Jennifer Hudson (as Fanning's caretaker who escapes along with her) seems to get lost in the shuffle. Some marvelous moments are ultimately undercut by too much artificial sweetening. ** from ****

Wow. This was a really good movie. The only reason why I didn't give it ten stars is because I reserve ten stars for the movies I really, really love and am a fan of, and nine stars for something I think is pretty much best picture material. I can't say I felt that way about the film, but I still thought it was excellent and very worthwhile.The acting here is incredible. The women were intense and thoughtful, and it's always good to see these fine actress in almost anything, especially something this good. I've always thought Dakota Fanning was a superb actress for a juvenile, and this film really suits her acting talent,(far better than the flat, one-dimensional tween sci-fi dud 'Push')This film is basically a women's film, but gender should not bias the viewer. It's great entertainment with important, timeless messages about human rights and respect. this movie should be seen by everyone, especially young people.

Having read the book and liking it, I found this movie to have the right combination of harsh reality and sentimentality. There are two sets of worker bees here; the actually insects and the women who continue to produces though in the middle of the prejudicial South. Queen Latifah (the queen bee) is incredible, backed up be an excellent cast. The young woman played by Dakota Fanning, is a bet weak at times, but the story carries things along. Her precociousness gets contrasted to her naivete a bit often. There are scenes of great emotion and sadness; also of great violence. We all need sanctuary at times and the women are willing to give this, even though they are dealing with a white girl who could bring trouble at any time. There are a few times when some stupid things are done and you wish they weren't, but this is a movie about hopes and dreams and reconciliation.