Honey Don’t review: Ethan Coen’s black comedy refreshingly reverses gender roles

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A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Ethan Coen and his partner Tricia Cooke carry on their series of lesbian detective novels, starting with 2024’s Drive-Away Dolls. Honey Don’t!, debuting in the Midnight category of the Cannes Film Festival without competition, is another darkly humorous story that focuses heavily on themes such as sex, violence, and enigma. Margaret Qualley reappears as a character, but she takes on a new role distinct from her previous one; plot-wise, there’s no continuity with Drive-Away Dolls.

Honey O’Donahue, a stylish private investigator based in Bakersfield, has a new case. Her client, Mia, tragically meets her end, found hanging upside down inside an overturned vehicle that tumbled off the road and into a canyon. It seems unlikely this was just an accident. A mysterious woman wearing leopard-print shorts appears at the scene of the crash, removing a ring from Mia’s finger – a piece of jewelry that could tie her to the Four-Way Temple church, led by the corrupt and predatory Reverend Drew (portrayed by Chris Evans).

In due course, bodies start accumulating, starting with a disreputable individual who fails to settle his drug debt and instead proposes a bizarre trade involving drugs for oral favors. The entrance of Honey into the picture, as she is hired by the man’s partner to monitor him, only serves to deepen her involvement in the escalating conflict. Matters become even more complicated when the dealer meets an untimely end following a brutal altercation that involves a knife, an iron heated to high temperatures, and numerous broken teeth.

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Eventually, all paths lead to Reverend Drew, suggesting that the religious leaders in this town are just as corrupt as the politicians who were involved in Drive-Away Dolls. It appears that Drew has a disturbing tendency to manipulate the women in his congregation into having sexual relationships with him. As for Honey Don’t!, if anything is amusing, it’s seeing Evans (also known as Captain America from Marvel) engaged in a threesome with two women dressed in leather harnesses.

Similar to the characters in Drive-Away Dolls, Honey displays an affinity towards women. Repeatedly, she expresses this preference to Marty (Charlie Day), the dim-witted cop she frequently shares information with and who persistently tries to arrange a date. Not long after, she’s flirting with MJ Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), an employee at the police department’s basement. Their encounters are casual yet somewhat explicit (even though Coen and Cooke do not shy away from depicting Honey cleaning her assortment of sex toys post-encounter).

As a movie enthusiast, I’d say this film carries a spirit reminiscent of Drive-Away Dolls, but with its own unique twist – it’s an unconventional B-movie that boldly embraces the LGBTQ+ community, a rarity in the realm of crime narratives, unless you count the Wachowskis’ 1996 lesbian noir, ‘Bound’. This film definitely has a political undertone; you’ll notice an anti-Republican sentiment, and a MAGA bumper sticker is replaced with the statement: “I have a voice, I vote.

More reviews from the Cannes Film Festival:

  • Die My Love review: Jennifer Lawrence is superb in this absorbing and quietly devastating drama
  • The Phoenician Scheme review: Wes Anderson’s latest is a quaint tale of industrial espionage
  • Eddington review: Ari Aster’s latest is thematically rich but overlong

Generally, the dialogue is crisp, particularly from Qualley’s character. When asked, “Do you drink?”, she responds swiftly, “I do, quite heavily, it’s something I take pride in.” However, one point of constructive criticism would be the abrupt ending of the film. The conclusion seems rushed and lacks the depth that it could have had. The Cooke-Coen script might have benefited from delving deeper into the intricate workings of the Four-Way Temple church. Instead, like the film’s fast-paced sexual encounters, it feels more like a brief encounter than a comprehensive exploration.

Although the movie may not display the brilliance typically associated with Ethan and Joel Coen, it skillfully assembles an impressive cast. Notable performances come from Gabby Beans as Honey’s persistent secretary and Talia Ryder as the detective’s niece who mysteriously disappears, adding another layer to this intricate mystery. Qualley delivers a strong performance as the private investigator, although she might have excelled more in a femme fatale role. However, maybe that’s exactly what Honey Don’t aims to portray – a world where gender roles are intentionally flipped, offering a fresh perspective.

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2025-05-24 03:04