Once I Was a Beehive
Once I Was a Beehive is a 2015 American comedy film written and directed by Maclain Nelson, about a girl who attends an LDS Young Women's camp. The film was shot in Utah, and Upstate New York. It received positive reviews from critics.
| Once I Was a Beehive | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Maclain Nelson |
| Produced by | Maclain Nelson Jake Van Wagoner |
| Screenplay by | Maclain Nelson |
| Starring | Paris Warner Lisa Clark Hailey Smith |
Release date |
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Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Box office | $732,655[1] |
Plot
Lane Speer (Paris Warner) is a young girl who enjoys camping with her parents. A year after Lane's father dies of cancer, her mother remarries a Mormon. Before the newlyweds leave for their honeymoon, they forget to inform Lane she will be staying with her new "step aunt" where she is encouraged to attend a week-long girls' Bible camp organized by the LDS Young Women. Lane decides to go on the trip so her phobic stepcousin Phoebe (Mila Smith) will also go.
The girls' first task is to set up their tepees. Most of the girls rush the job to get to the lake, but Lane and Phoebe take their time. It rains the following night, flooding the other girls' tents, and they all crowd into Lane and Phoebe's. Phoebe has secretly brought her dog Roxy to camp, and she tells them to keep it a secret.
After the night in the tent, the girls take a hike to a glacier. On the way, they get lost, going around in circles. Lane takes the map from Bree and discovers she was holding it the wrong way, making Bree look stupid. When they get to the glacier, Bree makes a catty remark to Lane about her "trying to impress everyone" and tells her to just be herself, because people like her better that way. Lane "accidentally" gives Bree a bloody nose by throwing an ice ball at her. The girls make snowcones from the glacier.
After whittling at the fire, Lane tries to make amends with Bree by cooking dinner for her and they eventually make up after Bree throws a tantrum. That night, a bear comes to the camp and causes Roxie to bark, alerting the adults, but the bear had run away before they noticed. As the adults head to Lane and Phoebe's tent, two of the girls claim that they were barking, and Roxy is still a secret.
While the girls prepare for the "Trial of Faith" event, a bear raids the camp and Phoebe becomes convinced that it ate Roxy. They run into the bear and play dead to make it ignore them.
Together, they decide to go through with the "Trial of Faith" activity, described as a Sunday school lesson taught by Indiana Jones. Phoebe uses her knowledge to help the girls solve the various puzzles and they eventually find "Noah's Ark". The bishop arrives and reveals that Roxy is still alive. On the last night of camp, they have a testimony meeting and Phoebe, Lane, and Bree share their experiences. At the final camp talent show, Lane and Phoebe perform their new song "Together".
Cast
- Paris Warner — Lane Speer
- Lisa Clark — Carrie Carrington
- Hailey Smith — Holly Valentine
- Clare Niederpruem — Bree Carrington
- Barta Heiner — Nedra
- Amy Biedel — Audrey Speer
- Adam Johnson — Robert Speer
- Brett Merritt — Tristan Samuelson
- Allie Jennings — Charlotte
- Kaley McCormack — Mindy
- Ariana Bagley — Myleka
- Ashley Santos — Paige
- Mila Smith — Phoebe Valentine
- Audrey Nelson — Hannah
- Zoe Wilde — Mykelle
- Ken Craig — Bishop Rudd
- Kiani Atkinson — Makenna
- Jason Celaya — Ranger Craig
Production and release
Once I Was a Beehive was filmed in Ithaca, New York, Payson, Utah and Provo Canyon. The scenes featuring a bear were shot on location with a trained bear named Tank. The film's ark was made by a local woodcrafter and was temporarily lost during transport because it was not properly attached to the vehicle.[2]
Sneak-peek screenings aired in various towns in Utah in early August.[2] It was released in Utah on 18 August, and expanded to theaters in Idaho and Arizona in September.[3] It was released by Purdie Distribution and saw a wide release of 32 theaters and grossed a total of $732,655.[1]
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was released in December[4] and features the following songs:[5]
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "To the Sky" | Natasha Watts | 3:11 |
| 2 | "Great Unknown" | Kenz Hall | 3:20 |
| 3 | "Believe" | Sam Means | 2:38 |
| 4 | "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" | Jessica Frech | 3:04 |
| 5 | "I Got Your Back" | Kayliann | 2:34 |
| 6 | "Together (Film Version)" | Paris Warner | 1:53 |
| 7 | "Love and Pain" | Sam Means | 2:43 |
| 8 | "The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning" | The Sabre Rattlers | 3:40 |
| 9 | "River" | Belle Jewel | 3:27 |
| 10 | "Together (Contest Version)" | Evie Clair | 1:54 |
| 11 | "For You" | Evie Clair | 3:32 |
| 12 | "Together (Performance Track)" | Beehive Sing-Along | 1:52 |
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 75% based on reviews from 8 critics, with an average rating of 6.2/10.[6]
Eric D. Snider gave the film a B+ grade and praised it for being "funny, sweet, AND sincere."[7] Adam Forsgren included Once I Was a Beehive as one of his 10 favorite films of 2015, commending it for deriving its humor from the characters instead of LDS culture.[8] Kerry Legel gave the film a mixed review, praising the acting but criticizing some dialogue.[9] Kai Elijah Hamilton also praised the film in his review, "Director Maclain Nelson gets extreme praise for making this a film everyone can connect with. It is not a Mormon film. It is a film where the characters happen to be Mormon. Upfront it expects us to understand that these characters are real people with misunderstood beliefs—and in one fell swoop quietly wipes away any taboos. It is a charming film about faith, healing and coming of age. It is not preachy. It is touching. It is as sweet and rich as honey."[10]
The film was a finalist in the best film category of the 2015 AML Awards, but ultimately lost to Peace Officer.[11]
References
- "Once I Was a Beehive (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- Gallagher, Alisha (2 August 2015). "Buzz about girl's camp: Local actors and directors bring sweeter-than-honey movie to theaters". UtahValley360. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- Jennifer, Johnson (20 August 2015). "'Once I Was a Beehive' is expanding camp". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- Peterson, Lottie (5 January 2016). "12-year-old singer Evie Clair featured on recently released 'Once I Was a Beehive' soundtrack". Deseret News. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- "Once I Was a Beehive (Music from the Original Motion Picture)". iTunes. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- "Once I Was A Beehive". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- Snider, Eric D. "Movie Review - Once I Was a Beehive". EricDSnider.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- Forsgren, Adam. "My 10 Favorite Flicks of 2015". East Idaho News. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- Legel, Kerry (17 September 2015). "Review: 'Once I Was a Beehive' a Mormon camp comedy, Mormon, Utah". AZCentral.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- "Once I Was A Beehive".
- Hall, Andrew (4 March 2016). "2015 AML Award Winners". Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
