The work of the Coen brothers is simply undeniable given their big success with No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski. However, in recent times, both Joel and Ethan Coen have decided to embark on their own directing ventures. Specifically, Ethan Coen has been constructing his own trilogy which, in his own words, is a “lesbian B-movie trilogy” which blossomed from the allure of Drive-Away Dolls. Now, that trilogy continues on with Honey Don’t! with Margaret Qualley back at the helm, but the sum of its many assorted parts result in it feeling somewhat confusing.
Honey Don’t! follows the investigation of private detective Honey O’Donahue (Qualley) into a woman’s suspicious death. Honey’s mission takes her all over Bakersfield, from a televangelistic religious cult led by the sinister Drew Devlin (Chris Evans) to her sister’s family, which has its own problems. In the midst of all the chaos, Honey begins to form a relationship with officer MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), who just wants to live her life. With all of this piling on her shoulders, Honey must try to do what she can to get to the bottom of everything.
The best thing about Honey Don’t! might have to be the emphasis on its topically dark comedy, which gets put to work thanks to Coen and writer Tricia Cooke. Though it keeps multiple narrative arcs moving at once, the consistent jokes about modern feminism and the “male perspective” are done with good taste. There are a few ones that stand out, from Honey constantly reminding her colleague Marty (Charlie Day) that she’s not into him romantically to a one-off where she forcibly replaces a MAGA car sticker with her own.
The humor of this movie extends further to reach in more raunchier territory, specifically with Drew. The “holy” pastor constantly pesters on with his sex-fueled activities and the close camerawork really makes you wonder how far Coen is willing to go with these obscene moments. Fortunately, they’re tightly packed in with Drew’s more passive, if somewhat violent, scenes mostly with his criminal goons. Still, the back-and-forth in these scenes are pretty hilarious due to the fact that the goons are written to basically be near-illiterates.
For one of Drew’s henchies, Hector (Jacnier), it feels like Honey Don’t! wanted to do more with the character. Hector does have his role in the grander scheme of Honey’s investigation, but the way that Coen tries to write around his character after the first act almost feels like a waste. We’re meant to feel bad for him given what Drew puts him up to, but we aren’t fully connected to his character because of how split his scenes are.
That seems to be the film’s biggest problem: there’s too many parts to it. To be clear, there are about four areas of focus: Honey’s primary investigation into Drew’s cult, Honey’s relationship with MG Falcone, Honey dealing with her sister (Kristen Connolly) and her conflicted niece (Talia Ryder), and Drew’s mixups with international criminals. While everything connects back to Honey’s investigation, Coen takes a slow and steady pace in making sure all of the film’s parts are on the same storytelling level.
However, the film also has certain priorities in regards to presenting these different elements, specifically with how it handles Honey and MG’s relationship. It truly doesn’t feel like there’s a full and deep connection to what Honey finds out until the very end, which, on its own, is somewhat of a short climax. It tries to integrate the Honey family sideplots (there’s two, but they coalesce in the end) at the very last moments too, which makes you wonder if there was supposed to be more.
For what it’s worth, the performances of Honey Don’t! are what make this film enjoyable to watch. Qualley has somewhat of a cunning edge to add to Honey’s inquisitive personality, Day infuses some Charlie Kelly-isms into the slightly misogynistic, yet helpful Marty, and Plaza is simply alluring in every scene MG shares with Honey. Of course, this seems to be a given in most of the sensual scenes the two find themselves in, highlighting Coen’s own personal directorial flair.
Additionally, it’s also aesthetically pleasing, giving us a visual mix of classical noir film elements with the tech of modern times. There’s certain shots that utilize the world’s particular situation to create this reminiscent capsule of the Coens’ early works, making you feel somewhat on edge. Yet, due to its narrative splittings, these visually nice scenes are very picky to select.
Honey Don’t! Is a deliciously raunchy noir flick that boasts some enticing performances from Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Evans. Its hilarity in sidequesting comes at a cost of maintaining a narratively strong mystery and story. If Ethan Coen focused more on highlighting the dangerous occult system Drew has created with the situation with Honey’s niece, it might’ve made for a more interesting watch.
Honey Don’t! releases in theaters on August 22.
Rating: ★★★
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Christopher Gallardo is a freelance entertainment writer and critic. While not running The Reel Roller, Chris can be found writing reviews and breakdowns on all things films and TV. Outside of entertainment writing, he’s currently taking classes for a Bachelor’s of Science with a minor in Digital Media & Journalism. Plus, he loves Percy Jackson, animated films and shows, and Fallout! Follow Christopher on Instagram & X.