Once I was a Beehive created by Maclain Nelson, of the Saratov Approach, and Hailey Smith.
Those of you who know me know I'm not into movies that make you cry by sucker punching you in the feels. This movie did exactly that; but I loved it.
Once I was a Beehive is the perfect balance of a cheesy Mormon movie, heartwarming coming of age story, and an accurate true-to-life representation of LDS culture.
By taking the perspective of a non-LDS girl, this movie really relates to all family-friendly audiences. Lane is distraught after the death of her father, and when her mother gets remarried to an LDS man, she feels completely powerless. But like most girls, she deals with her pain by finding a way to help others, starting with her mom by agreeing to go away for 3 weeks with her new step-aunt. She then agrees to accompany her new step-cousin, with a major anxiety disorder, to an LDS girls camp. She continues this pattern throughout the film, and eventually comes to realize that this corny girls camp is exactly what she needed to heal herself.
What I liked:
- The cheesy Mormon cliches were kept in check but were still very present as it wouldn't be the same without them.
- You could tell this story was written by a guy and empowering young women while still making fun of their respective stereotypes takes talent. I liked that Maclain Nelson,the writer, understood that the characters themselves are funny and not everything has to be a pun on the Mormon culture.
- It actually felt like a regular fish out of water story where the fish just happened to be at Mormon girls camp.
- It's a very approachable story and shows Mormon culture in a completely original way. And it's just plain hilarious.
- It showed the objective of our church is not just to baptize, but to show Christ-like love.
What I didn't like:
- While they did a good job of portraying the characters and people in the church, in order to make it more accessible they sacrificed a lot of specifics that set the church apart. (like only using the Bible instead of including the Book of Mormon, things like that.)
- The lead actress, Paris Warner, could be a little monotone at times.
- Some of the girls were clearly not Young Women age.
- The ending was a little in-cohesive as they wrapped up stories with a heartfelt voice-over, then played a little more with the girls and the family, and then wrapped up stories with a heartfelt voice-over again .
- The worst offence this movie made was they did, in fact, sucker punch you in the feels. Women of the church will happy cry sad cry and then happy cry again. Over 80% of the guys who go see this will cry.
Over all, in its genre, I give it an A.
Go see it and let me know if you agree.
#onceiwasabeehive
