User reviews

Trying to get through school, a teen obsessed with bees grows distraught over living with her step-family and eventually is forced from home by a cruel prank to stay with a mysterious teacher she befriended one day, but the longer she stays there she comes to believe something deadly is happening to her.

This was a highly underwhelming and generally uninteresting effort. When this one works is due pretty much solely to the uneasy setup that had the potential to be somewhat interesting. The work done on the farmhouse that keeps her there, with the bizarre work involving the series of impressive double-entendre referencing what's really going on. As it twists around whether or not the intentions behind the abduction are true or what's really going on, the sense of unease and confusion here is quite enjoyable. While it also tends to rush through the action at the end, it's still somewhat enjoyable to watch play out as it does since there's finally some kinetic activity happening with these campy creatures that give this somewhat goofy enough of an atmosphere to be entertaining. There are a few big issues to be had with this one. The main factor with the film is the utterly dull and drab setup that manages to rely far more on uninteresting family drama than anything resembling a genre effort. Featuring a truly cliched disastrous home-life that borders on the unwatchable with the exploits of the teen step-daughter bullying her mercilessly, the step-mother doing everything in her power to encourage it while the dad is spinless to stand up against it despite his best intentions to protect her, this is mixed together with a barely-evolved bullying setup at school that pegs her as an outcast against her step-sister and her friends. This is all completely expected and not in the slightest interesting or chilling enough to matter. In addition to this setup, the film's second half is a series of weird and illogical decision-making that really dooms this one considerably. Their friendship together is underwritten and barely there, essentially being one meet-up following several failed encounters that border on psychotic, borderline-criminal stalking that never feels genuine or realistic. This in turn makes the retreat to her remote house in the country that seems to slowly evolve into her transforming into some kind of queen bee come off even odder, with the incident looking like a straight-up kidnapping that no one goes to check up on as she disappears in the middle of the night to live with a stranger at a remote house away from everyone else. It's incredibly sketchy and suspect which also ends up furthering the blandness as nothing happens here either. The last flaw here, which is quite bad but isn't nearly as detrimental as the other issues, is the films' wholly cheap and underwhelming effects work featured throughout. While the burn-marks are generally okay, they're the only features that look good here with the transformations being absolutely comical and hysterical funny more than anything, especially with the design as much as the prosthetics utilized. The vampire-like fangs are just absolutely ludicrous a concept since they're a feature not on the actual creature and look just as goofy as the half-human/half-bee hybrid that follows, which when all combined together with the other issues here really hamper the film overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

I thought it was going to be some kind of fly type body horror sci fi film, but it wasnt.

Very weird choices, it starts out as a nerdy girl bullied at school kind of thing with a few diffrent characters like parents and bullys etc,

then all of a sudden they all dissapear and you never see them again and the rest of the film is in 1 location

you see some effects and 'transformation' (kind of) in the last 2 mins of the film, quite dissapointing.

Would of been alot better if she turned alot earlier then went back to get revenge on the bullys or something.

To say this is a high school production would be a great compliment. I'm honestly shocked that such a lousy film even got made. The story was incoherent, the acting was terrible, the cinematography was quite possibly the worst I've ever seen. I'd venture to guess that these are all students that made the film, because if they are professionals, they must be the lowest quality you could possibly find. I wish I could say that it was so bad that it was good, but I can't even say that. The special effects budget was probably $10. They literally put Halloween store plastic wings on the main character at the end. SMH.

This was the worst movie I have ever seen. I mean I could have made a better movie and my stuff bad in my opinion. This honestly looked like you told some kids "here's $10 go make a horror movie"

Do NOT be deceived by paid reviews. Stay away ! Bad acting, bad story, bad special effects. I was expecting an okay B-grade movie, but oh my god was I wrong.

Movie is terrible, doesn't deserve more than that, absolutely terrible.

The absolute best thing about this entire film is the poster. The poster does far more to convey any sense of mystery, thriller, perhaps horror than the film does at ANY point.

Unfortunately, as this film begins it's EXCEPTIONALLY clear that none of the actors are very talented. In the opening 5 minutes one just knows that if the quality of acting being displayed is this poor, it's only going to get worse.... and it does.

The story is looooooooooong, drawn out, and simply so, so, soo uninteresting. There's no tension built whatsoever. It's all drama, poorly acted, drama - other than the last 5-10 minutes where it's poorly acted "thriller" on a made-for-tv level.

This film is really not worthy of anyone's time. Sorry. I know a lot fo people put work into it... but somewhere along the lines they should have simply cut their losses and ran. Surely the "dailies" showed how bad the acting was.

I watched the first five minutes and went on to something else, saving it for a later time. I couldn't sleep last night so i turned it on and watched it half-asleep, and it was STILL bad. Lol

the script was terrible, most of the acting was high school play level, the dead teacher didn't make any sense unless queen bee went and killed him so she could meet aster (which is possible to move the plot along but still dumb).

I know it was supposed to represent a human bee hive. But it wasn't executed properly. At the end, i couldn't even tell if they were supposed to be bees or vampires with .99 fake fangs. The make-up was terrible, a lot was left unexplained, just waste of time. I wasn't sleeping anyway so it was a wash.

I must admit that I was initially lured into watching this 2021 movie titled "Royal Jelly" given the movie's cover/poster. I found that to be rather interesting, and the movie's synopsis also made it seem like there could be potential to writer and director Sean Riley's movie.

"Royal Jelly" certainly was a watchable movie, although it just didn't really manage to be outstanding. And this was hardly a memorable movie viewing experience for me, as the storyline and the events that took place throughout the course of the movie were just a bit too generic.

The acting performances in "Royal Jelly" were adequate. I wasn't familiar with the cast in this movie, but I found that the actors and actresses performed well enough in the movie. I do enjoy watching unfamiliar talents in movies, I will admit that, so it was a shame that the performers in the movie just had mediocre contents to work with in terms of script, storyline, dialogue and characters.

Visually then "Royal Jelly" was okay. There wasn't anything spectacular to behold here. So don't expect to be in for a visual roller coaster.

For a horror movie, then "Royal Jelly" was bland and offered nothing interesting or innovative to the genre. So as a life-long horror fan, then writer and director Sean Riley just didn't manage to impress me.

My rating of "Royal Jelly" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

The film was really good. The buildup to the end made it so much better. There were moments where we got a little confused but it all made sense in the end. We highly recommend giving this movie a shot.

The acting was good, special effects were good. A few moments of comedic relief tied in with suspense. This is actually my second time watching it so it was good enough that I came back for a second watch.

If you're looking for something to kick back with friends or even by yourself then this is the movie for you.

Like I said. Give the film a shot and see for yourself. I don't think you will be disappointed.

At least INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (1973) had a camp thing going on. ROYAL JELLY takes itself way too seriously and the less than stellar acting brings it to a buzz-less crash. Tedious pace and beyond predictable.

I watch a lot of low-budget and no-budget movies, this sounded like it would be an interesting movie, and it is, but it seems a lot of people don't get what's going on, or think it's boring. A lot actually happens in this movie, but it is fairly underplayed. The beginning of the movie sets it up and explains exactly what is going on. I almost wish it went a little further in it's weirdness, and at the end it's very low-budget shows with some false teeth, the colors do not match the the actors teeth.....

This is a literal representation of a honey bee hive, on a human scale, if that doesn't appeal to you, you probably shouldn't watch it. It is actually a really interesting movie, and I think people are not giving it a fair shake.

If you can accept it's premise, I think there is a lot to enjoy, but it is a strange movie, one of the stranger ones I have seen recently, but I don't want to give too much away. It is a kind of dark fairytale/drama, and again, it may get confusing, but it is all explained at the very beginning, I recommend going back and watching the first few minutes. It moves slow, but pay attention and have some patience.

The main theme throughout the movie is a really haunting piano piece, it actually reminds me a bit of the "Nightmare on Elm Street Theme", sadly the rest of the music is hit or miss. The cinematography is generally good, except there are a little of dark shots towards the end where it is a bit hard to tell what is going on. The acting from the lead is good, and the rest of the cast is good enough, the worst actors, thankfully have very small parts. The sound mixing is thankfully, well-done, nothing is seriously out of balance.

It has a pretty classic fairlytale set-up, and I think it definitely keeps that feel throughout the movie, don't expect the plot to make real world sense, it isn't supposed to and it is meant to be surreal, so don't take things so literally. I think for what it aims to achieve, it has a fairly cohesive plot. If you accept its weird dark fairytale beehive premise you'll at least be entertained, if you don't, you will definitely not enjoy this movie.

Royal Jelly Written and directed by Sean Riley

Bumblebees, honey bees, bees of all types infect every section of this movie. Her late mother was a beekeeper and loved the creatures so she found herself drawn to them as well. She is an outcast and a loner. A mysterious substitute teacher comes into town and Aster(a bee loving lonely girl) and this adult steal off into the night, no questions asked.

This lady is not what she seems. She appears to be grooming Aster for something important and it is something that has to do with bees. This is a movie that starts out going in the direction of a teenage revenge film like Carrie. It is a bit of a bait and switch that goes on once the lady of the bee manor sweeps Aster off of her feet.

We begin to encroach with bits of body horror and honestly this was the most fascinating aspect of the movie. It doesn't have enough of a special makeup effects budget to really dig beneath this horror and prey upon what it might be like. It does dwell on the more grotesque elements of the insect world and especially bee queens. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth because when you take it out of the insect world and apply it to unwilling human beings, it changes things.

The movie also wants us to believe in Aster's relationship with the first boy, not the cartoon cowboy. It doesn't really give much in the way of character development. You get one romantic swoon under the moon. That's not enough to really believe in the dilemma being presented here.

While I do admire the filmmaker trying something this off the wall, there's a lot that doesn't work. In order to even get to the house where Aster is being groomed for her queen bee duties, the story jumps through a bunch of hoops and ignores things that any rational person might ask themselves. There's a suspicious lack of law enforcement for a teenage runaway. Nobody seems to question what happened to Aster. Not her loving father or she demon stepmother. Nobody.

There are several opportunities for Aster to read the red flags ever prevalent.

She ignores them and even invents new excuses to stay in what is obviously especially once a cartoon cowboy shows up, is a very dangerous place. Where is her dad? Does nobody care that Aster just disappeared with an adult teacher?

I had just too many questions and that fragile suspension of disbelief became frayed and eventually snapped in two, nor the twain should meet again. Royal Jelly does try. The camera work is strange in the fact that it is either super close up or shaking tremendously. I was confused by the style that Sean Riley was going for. The destruction of the hive by the bullies was beautifully shot and even went for a slow motion balletic tone. Not all was lost with this. It was just a missed opportunity.

I give Royal Jelly a C.

"Actors are like cattle" Hitchcock once famously said; they really have no idea how a flick will turn out when they're filming. As such, I won't blame them. However the writer/director should be banned from ever ATTEMPTING to make another flick. The idea is an interesting one, but torpedoed by the one-dimensional cliche' of the social/family outcast, delivered with such sledgehammer exaggeration in the first 15 minutes that the rest of the flick is poisoned. AVOID if you want to be entertained or at all value your time.

Anyone giving this movie a good review should be ashamed. This is a terrible movie, and what makes it a horribly movie is that it could have been better. Well, maybe better, but then maybe not, thinking back on it. A lot of stuff happens but you never learn why or how it relates to the story. I got the impression they shot the entire movie and after editing it, discovered it was only 15 minutes long. So in effort to lengthen it they shot a bunch nonsense and just randomly threw it in. When they got to the actual ending they have had a complete brain freeze, because I'm not even sure there was an end, just credits suddenly showing up.

This has been one of the worst attempts in film history. Not only does the movie itself feel like it was recorded on an iPhone with middle schoolers acting, but you'll get nauseated trying to follow the camera bumping around everywhere. The absolutely worst part of this attempt at film --If you, like any normal person, don't want to see themes of minors in sexual situations (pregnancy, suggested non-consensual situations), don't watch this. It's too far. Whomever wrote this needs to stay away from children. I don't know how it hasn't been stated in other reviews. It possibly is overlooked that these characters are portrayed as minors because it is impossible to follow a timeline as this script must have been written on a napkin from a bedside table at 4am.

Well done, crazy ending. Interesting take on the high school outcast trope.

I'm not even half way through this but one thing is annoying me; Aster has referred to Drew as her 'half sister' twice so far. To be half sisters the girls must share one parent. Since they are in the same class, Aster and Drew must be close to the same age. Aster clearly remembers her mother and her father speaks of missing her as if they were still together when the mother died. So did Aster's father cheat on her mother with the stepmom to conceive Drew? Or does the writer not understand the concept of half sister compared to step sister?

This is a really good film to watch. Also good special effects.