“Honey Don’t!” Is a Funny, Sexy Good Time

The Minnesota-born Coen brothers—best recognized for their co-directed films like Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country for Old Men—often combine the violence and suspense of a noir film with the clever and comedic writing of a dark comedy. Since deciding to direct and write their own solo projects, they have released two films, Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) and Ethan Coen’s Drive Away Dolls (2024), both of which received less than stellar reception and kind of flew under the radar.

Drive Away Dolls starred Margaret Qualley, along with many other big names, and was co-written by Ethan and his wife, Tricia Cooke. (Read: “Drive-Away Dolls Is a Queer, Raunchy Ride”) It was the first in what they are calling their lesbian B-movie trilogy. Just a year later, the writing team has released the second entry into the trilogy, Honey Don’t!, also starring Qualley.

Karen Kuehn/Focus Features

In this film, Qualley plays Honey O’Donahue—a private investigator who’s hoping to solve numerous murders around town that seem to be linked to a cultlike church run by Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans). She sparks a steamy new relationship with an undervalued cop named MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza) in the hopes that she will help her solve the case.

The thing that stood out the most about Honey Don’t! was its comedy. I truly don’t think I’ve laughed this much at a movie in a very long time. The jokes were pretty much nonstop, and they were a perfect combination of crude and clever. Whether you were laughing at them or with them, each character in this film had their own brand of humor. From Chris Evans’s sexual references to Margaret Qualley’s quippy comebacks, we really get it all, and most of the jokes landed for me. Aubry Plaza and supporting cast members Charlie Day and Billy Eichner also bring a lot of laughs in their own unique ways.

Aubrey Plaza as MG Falcone and Margaret Qualley as Honey O’Donahue. Courtesy of Focus Features

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this film is very sexual. A lot of the scenes play for jokes, but they are definitely taking things further than many movies do nowadays. In some ways, the shock value of the sexuality feels like an attempt to normalize these typically unspoken acts, but I do think it could be a turn-off for some.

This film is not just sexy and funny—it also interacts with a handful of deeper themes, such as religion, manipulation, abuse and misogyny. These are mainly represented in Devlin’s desire to control and take advantage of his church followers. Evan though the topics are pretty in your face, they are mostly approached in a satirical manner, which helps make them feel impactful but not overbearing.

Charlie Day as Marty Metakawich. Courtesy of Focus Features

My main disappointment with the movie comes from the mystery aspects of story. In true film noir fashion, Honey Don’t! weaves an intricate web of characters and crimes that kept me guessing the entire time. Just like any good whodunit, there are many red herrings and leads, but I felt like the story was lacking in the clue department. There are a lot of things happening in the story, but the actual detective work Honey does is pretty minimal. No spoilers, but by the end, it almost feels like she stumbles on to the answer instead of discovering it through logic.

This is my most frequent gripe with stories in the mystery genre—when there aren’t enough clues for the audience to piece together the solution to the puzzle themselves. This can be a very tricky balance, because you don’t want it to be too easy for the viewer to put answers together, but you do want them to be able to feel like they were discovering the clues alongside the characters.

To me, this film’s conclusion seemed to come out of nowhere and left something to be desired. This is not unlike some of the Coen brothers’ joint movies, including the masterful No Country for Old Men. Honey Don’t! definitely leans on the side of not revealing enough about the solution, which I admit does cause the ending to be unpredictable, but ultimately I couldn’t shake the feeling of being unsatisfied with how things turned out.

The other thing that has to make sense in a murder mystery is the killer’s motive. In this case, I think it’s halfway there, but I didn’t feel like I understood the full picture behind why the murders took place, which meant that I didn’t really buy the killer’s reasoning.

Karen Kuehn/Focus Features

With all that said, I did really have a blast watching this movie, and I’m very curious to rewatch it and see if I can pick up on more things that I might’ve missed. Honey Don’t! didn’t quite reach the level that I was hoping for, but I do highly recommend it for anyone looking for something a little provocative and unique to watch this summer.