It brings me no great joy to say this, but the lesbian coded Coen/Cooke/Qualley experiment has run its course and probably needs to come to an end. Like last year’s “Drive-Away Dolls,” “Honey, Don’t” reunites all three with the same tepid effect, the latter feeling somehow even more unfocused yet dialed in simultaneously. It suffers from the same undercooked ideas that held their first attempt back, with “Honey, Don’t” attempting to tackle the hard boiled detective crime noir genre and only sometimes getting there. It isn’t all bad, but even at its funniest and horniest it fails to jolt any electricity into its disjointed and purposefully convoluted plot, leaving “Honey, Don’t” feeling as flat as its Bakersfield desert setting. It never owns any of its themes or ideas fully, merely wearing its horniness rather than bringing it to life.
That’s a strange to say about a sexually charged noir film, but it’s important to note nevertheless because this is the third time the absence of the other is felt, and Ethan Coen specifically is 0-2 in his solo work. “Honey, Don’t” once again demonstrates how vital Ethan and Joel are to each other as filmmakers, with unbridled quirk and silly sexuality counterbalanced by the other’s more grounded approach. I wish each of them could express themselves better in their apart, but “Honey, Don’t” solidifies that the Coen Brothers are better together. Not to belabor this point, but after watching this I revisited “Burn After Reading” and – now that I’ve experienced each brother’s work by themselves – you can start to seperate ideas and identify who does what when they collaborate.
It shouldn’t be that obvious, but “Honey, Don’t” needs Joel to feel fully realized and inject the much needed guardrails and fleshed out groundwork Ethan and Tricia seem to miss.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of fun to be had here particularly from muse Margaret Qualley (“The Nice Guys“) who, against the odds of the material, delivers another knockout performance. Qualley is so assured in her talents and onscreen magnetism, and playing the small town hard boiled private detective Honey O’Donahue feels like the perfect role for her. I’ll give them this: Coen and Cooke know full well who Qualley is and what’s she’s good at, and most of the things that work do so because they feel written for their lead specifically.
Chris Evans as Drew Devlin – a dastardly and shady cult leader who deals drugs and preys on insecure women for sexual gain and mixed up in a case that Honey is investigating – is kind of perfect here too, clearly having a blast being bad. While smarmy Evans has been placed in some truly awful films (see “Painhustlers” and “The Gray Man“), he’s really good at it, and “Honey, Don’t” highlights his ability to be disgustingly likable. He has a great sermon delivered with televangelist gusto that had me genuinely laughing out loud, probably the only time this film had me dialed in completely. That’s really saying something because I stan hard for Qualley and rarely take my eyes off of whatever it is she does, ever.
Aubrey Plaza as police officer MG Falcone is fine enough, rarely given much to do aside from Qualley herself (lotta lesbian sex in this movie, even more than “Drive-Away Dolls“) dispute being a pivotal character in the overall plot, which to be fair is hard to parse out even for the most astute movie goer. “Honey, Don’t” does feel purposeful in its unresolved and messy threads, leaning into the noir vibes and weaving bits and pieces together in messy fashion that could work if only they cared enough to dig a little deeper into the things that matter. Ethan Coen and wife Tricia Cooke reunite here, and while I don’t think it’s much better than “Drive-Away Dolls,” I do think that the two are much more in sync this time out. The net cast is just too wide and the ideas too many to be as effective as it wants to be, delivering only glimpses of intrigue and a few chuckles rather than laugh out loud moments.
Credit: Karen Kuehn / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
Its scattershot approach feels like it’s usually reigned in by Joel, and it never quite lands on any one thing significant enough to make it feel like it was all worth it. Too many things start and stop or start and go nowhere or stop before they ever get going, like a tapestry of disconnected beginnings and endings that rarely cross paths or create a whole picture. “Honey, Don’t” just kind meanders about until it ends without a worthy payoff and a third act reveal that only surprises because it doesn’t reward you for your efforts and patience. It just happens, like most things here, and if it were all truly anchored on Qualley to make it all make sense it might actually do so. But it doesn’t, so we’re left with a hodgepodge of underdeveloped and underwritten ideas with unearned conclusions that never feel conclusive or satisfying.
At least it looks great? Ari Wegner’s cinematography is excellent, really capturing what it feels like in Bakersfield and creating a well crafted small town vibe. I’ve spent more time in Bakersfield than I liked to admit, and at least Wegner nails the city, and makes it seem a perfect backdrop for the story with his expert shot composition. But alas, just because something looks good doesn’t mean it is, and sadly outside of its look and strong performances “Honey, Don’t” misses the mark.
It’s time for the boys to get back together – for all of us. If Noel and Liam Gallagher can sort out their shit and bring back Oasis, Ethan and Joel Coen can figure out whatever they need to in order to reunite and save cinema.
Because honey, “Honey, Don’t” ain’t it. We deserve better. Come back, boys. Cinema needs you.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars
“Honey, Don’t” is in theaters August 22nd. You can watch the trailer below.
