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R
for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, some strong violence, and language.
Starring
Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Gabby Beans, Charlie Day
Director
Ethan Coen
Producer
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Ethan
Genres
Comedy
Detective
Released by
Focus Features on
8/22/2025
Nationwide
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Trailer
Review
Since stepping away from working with his brother Joel, Ethan Coen has found a new creative partner in his wife, Trisha Cooke. Honey Don't! marks their second collaboration and, like Drive-Away Dolls, it revels in B-movie excess. That shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. The film is a cheesy, delicious mess that succeeds on multiple levels-from its shocking deaths and over-the-top performances to its unabashed mix of sex and female nudity, a rarity in 2020s cinema. It's playful, prurient, and refreshingly unpretentious.
Honey Don't! is an homage to the grand potboilers of old, refracted through the exploitative aesthetics of the '80s. The world-weary gumshoe serves as the canvas; naked bodies and splashes of mild gore are the brushstrokes. From start to finish, the film keeps its tongue planted firmly in cheek. Echoes of the Coen Brothers' offbeat comedies-Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, Intolerable Cruelty, and Fargo-are there for anyone inclined to look, though Honey Don't! never quite reaches their heights. Cooke's influence, meanwhile, is unmistakable. As with Drive-Away Dolls (originally titled Drive-Away Dykes), her perspective as a self-described "queer lesbian" is woven deeply into the fabric of the film.
The Big Sleep, which starred Humphrey Bogart as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, is often criticized for its incomprehensible plot, but narrative coherence was never the point. That WWII-era classic thrived less on story than on Bogart and Bacall's chemistry, the snappy dialogue, and its indelible noir atmosphere. I wouldn't dream of putting Honey Don't! on The Big Sleep's pedestal, but the similarities are there. Tracking the trajectory of Coen and Cooke's story is difficult-borderline impossible-especially given how quickly it all rushes by (without credits, the film runs maybe 82 minutes). What sustains it are the visuals, the dialogue, and the performances. At its best, the movie is hilarious and surprising; it just happens to make sense only occasionally.
Although it isn't immediately clear-what with a naked woman swimming in a lake and a dead body in an overturned car-the film's focus is Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley), a hard-bitten California private eye. Her investigation into a client's death pulls her into the orbit of a rogues' gallery, many of them unsavory. Chief among them is Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans), a seedy, drug-dealing pastor of the Four-Way Temple, who is literally and figuratively in bed with "The French" and unbothered by sprinkling in a little murder and intimidation between sex romps. Meanwhile, Honey embarks on a BDSM-flavored affair with police officer MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza) while providing shelter for her niece, Corinne (Talia Ryder), who's involved in an abusive relationship. And that, as they say, is only the tip of the iceberg.
Margaret Qualley, who also co-starred in Drive-Away Dolls, takes what Coen and Cooke have written and runs with it. Her no-nonsense performance is among the year's best, perfectly attuned to the film's tone. The character is arguably more compelling than the material itself and, as she has shown across her diverse filmography, Qualley isn't afraid of taking chances. (She's also one of the few rising actresses comfortable with nudity, a striking contrast to her mother, Andie MacDowell.) Chris Evans, meanwhile, seems to relish chewing scenery as he delivers the reverend's pulpy dialogue. Aubrey Plaza is somewhat underused, but she makes her presence felt whenever she's on screen.
While I appreciate the film's brisk pace, at times it feels like things are moving too quickly. As a string of offbeat, interconnected vignettes, Honey Don't! succeeds; as a feature-length narrative, it falters. Like Drive-Away Dolls (though I found this outing stronger), it thrives on rambunctious energy rather than structural coherence. Yet because it thumbs its nose at the puritanical morality of contemporary mainstream cinema, Honey Don't! feels destined for cult appreciation rather than broad appeal. It's a diverting curiosity-something to tide us over while we wait for Joel and Ethan Coen to reunite.
© 2025 James Berardinelli
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