The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees (2008) is a coming-of-age drama you can watch online on iFILM. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood adapted Sue Monk Kidd's bestselling novel. The year is 1964, the place is South Carolina, and against the backdrop of the civil rights fight, fourteen-year-old Lily runs away with her caregiver, Rosaleen.

Lily carries the guilt of her mother's death and lives with a cold, harsh father. The only clue to her mother's past is a honey label printed with the name of a town. Following it, she lands at the home of the Boatwright sisters, three Black women who keep bees and bottle honey under a bright pink roof. August, June, and May take the runaway in, and slowly Lily finds the thing she has always been missing: a family. Dakota Fanning anchors a deep female cast that includes Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, singer Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo.

This is a gentle, often tearful film about chosen mothers and race in the 1960s South, built for a warm group watch. It plays softly rather than loud, and the heart in it is real. Stream The Secret Life of Bees (2008) online on iFILM.