Honey Bee (2018)

Natalie (Julia Sarah Stone), aka Honey Bee, has been in the foster care system since she could remember. Taking up with Ryan (Steven Love), she feels loved and protected, but the only problem is Ryan is a trafficker of young women and girls. Honey Bee is just one of three girls he puts to work at a truck stop. When Natalie is caught in the act by a police sting, she’s placed in a foster home in Northern Ontario run by Louise (Martha Plimpton). A no-nonsense woman, Louise lays down the law with the defiant Natalie. Her foster mates Chante (Michelle McLeod) and Matt (Connor Price) are caught in the crossfire of Natalie’s anger, but she slowly warms up to the new home. Adjusting to this new life is overshadowed by the weight of whether to testify against Ryan to stop the sex trafficking network he’s set up. When Ryan finds her and takes her away, Natalie must choose between going back to the dangerous life on the street as Honey Bee or continuing to make changes for the better.

Directed by award-winning Rama Rau and written by Bonnie Fairweather and Kathleen Hepburn, Honey Bee is a gritty drama about the real issues of sex trafficking and the psychological effects it has on young women and girls. The dangers are evident in the cycle of abuse through the foster care system and beyond. With great performances by Stone, Plimpton and McCleod, Honey Bee is a small film with a big heart, bringing attention to a very real danger to women and girls let down by the system.