Tell It to the Bees

This ripe melodrama about rampant small-mindedness in a 1950s Scottish village includes lesbianism, backstreet abortion, sexual assault and an attack by bees - yet still manages to be rather dull and daft. True Blood star Anna Paquin plays a doctor who returns to her home town to take over her dead dad's practice. Tongues start wagging when she starts to get close to a local mum (Holliday Grainger) who's seeking sanctuary from a brutal and unfaithful husband. Events are largely seen through the prism of the mum's young son, and via his almost telepathic relationship with the bees the doctor keeps. The title stems from the rural belief that you keep bees from flying off by telling them your secrets. It's a half-baked device that maybe plays better in the book this is based on. The leads are decent, but the frequent bee close-ups seem superfluous, and whole thing reeks of an overwrought soap opera.