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Poster for Akeelah and the Bee

Akeelah and the Bee

2006 · 113 min

A heartwarming and earnest underdog story that builds tension through spelling competitions while tugging at the heartstrings with its focus on community and personal growth.

Directed by
Doug Atchison
Genres
Drama
Starring
Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett
Tagline
Changing the world... one word at a time.
Overview
11-year-old Akeelah Anderson has a way with words. After winning her schoolwide spelling bee, she decides to enter the competition, despite her classmates' derision and the antipathy of her mother Tanya. Thanks to the efforts of her teacher Dr. Larabee, she reaches the finals. As she gets to know her fellow competitors, Akeelah realizes that coming first isn't everything in life.

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Stream in the UK
  • Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Doug Atchison
Genres
Drama
Starring
Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • warmstrength 3 of 3
  • upliftingstrength 3 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • coming-of-age
  • family
  • education
  • identity
  • found family
Places
  • big city
  • school
  • home
Era
contemporary
Audience
family
Form
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence none
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror0
Humour4
Realism8
Romance1
Tension5
Darkness2
Complexity4
Emotional weight7

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Where to watch in the UK

Stream
  • Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel
Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
drama
Directed by
Doug Atchison
Written by
Doug Atchison
Starring
Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Sahara Garey, Lee Thompson Young
Music
Aaron Zigman
Cinematography
M. David Mullen
Runtime
113 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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