WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Small-town private investigator Honey O’Donahue probes a series of strange deaths that are tied to a mysterious church.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

Ethan Coen’s latest movie, “Honey Don’t!” feels like a collection of unfocused ideas stuck together with no purpose. Unfortunately, the movie feels like an unfocused mess that feels overly clever in some places, but ends up being boring and annoying. The movie follows a lovely woman, Honey O’Donahue (played by Margaret Qualley), as a private investigator looking into some mysterious deaths related to a weird church. The church leader, portrayed by Chris Evans, spends most of his time engaging in sexual encounters rather than leading his congregation. While Evans gives it his all, even his strong performance cannot save this train wreck. The biggest issue with the movie is its identity crisis. Sometimes it aims to be a serious crime thriller, other times it seeks cheap laughs, and occasionally it tries to make profound statements about society. None of these approaches succeed because they are all mixed together like incompatible ingredients. Honey starts as an intriguing character. She’s tough, smart, and has no concern for other people’s feelings. The film wants us to see her as a female version of the cool detective, but it lacks any depth. We hear about only a few past remnants of her troubled childhood and family of origin trouble, but they seem haphazardly inserted instead of purposeful. The story has too many ancillary stories that go nowhere. Honey’s sister has a bunch of kids, there is a detective who continually hits on Honey despite her lack of attraction to him, and there is a confusing subplot involving French criminals. The new problems come on so quickly, viewers never have time to care about any of them. Aubrey Plaza appears as a police officer who is made to be Honey’s love interest, but her character itself lacks depth and is oddly uninvolved. Plaza usually excels in comedy as opposed to drama, but she seems as lost as the rest of the film when it seems there is a serious need to be involved. There seemingly is some kind of serious attraction or anything else that leads to a couple to root for. There is the cliche of including sex scenes and nudity, but it doesn’t feel necessary. It feels like they were either trying to create some kind of sensationalism or shock value to the viewer, instead of telling a good story. The content is not mature enough to function as a serious adult drama, yet it feels excessive for a simple comedy. To top it off, it has obvious errors that indicate a lack of attention to detail. Characters hair and clothing change between shots, and blood on a character’s arm after nothing physical or violent happened is confusing. These errors make the whole production, at best, feel rushed and careless. The central mystery to make the film work remains unclear and uninteresting. By the time the film discloses what is really happening, most viewers will have lost interest. The ending attempts to tie everything together, but it feels like too little too late. What makes this especially disappointing is that Ethan Coen has created truly excellent films with his brother Joel. Movies like “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” showed their mastery of crime storytelling that is both entertaining and meaningful. “Honey Don’t!” feels like someone trying to mimic that style without grasping what made those previous films successful. The 88-minute runtime somehow feels both rushed and drawn out. Scenes shift so quickly that crucial plot points get lost, yet the overall pace is slow enough to bore viewers as they wait for something interesting to unfold. Margaret Qualley does her best in the role, and there are instances where her performance reveals real potential. She embodies the tough-talking detective well, and when the script offers her meaningful material, she shines. Unfortunately, those moments are rare. Chris Evans clearly enjoys playing against his usual good-guy persona and brings energy to his role as the corrupt preacher. His willingness to embrace the character’s sleazy nature delivers some of the movie’s few enjoyable moments. However, even his committed performance cannot compensate for the weak writing. The film attempts to address serious themes like abuse, religious manipulation, and sexual politics, but it lacks depth and sensitivity. Instead of exploring these ideas thoughtfully, it merely mentions them and moves on, squandering opportunities for meaningful commentary. Technical issues throughout the production exacerbate the problems. The editing is disjointed, the pacing is off, and the scenes seem to be made up of perfunctory cut-together bits. There is no question that very little time was put into post-production to work on these issues of basic filmmaking. “Honey Don’t!” is a big step backward for Ethan Coen as a filmmaker. His last solo outing, “Drive-Away Dolls,” had its own problems, but at least embraced the fact that it was going to be a fun, silly road trip movie. This new film cannot agree on a tone, ultimately failing to satisfy anyone. It feels like it was rushed without careful consideration of the story it wanted to tell. Too many ideas vie for attention, and none receive the development they need. The result is a movie that conveys absolutely nothing of value and wastes the good talents of its capable cast. Unless you are a superfan of a particular actor involved, there is very little incentive to rush and find “Honey Don’t!” It is the type of movie that is bound to be quickly forgotten, and legitimately, that is probably for the best.

OUR RATING – AN UNFOCUSED 2

MEDIA

• Genre – Comedy
• Street date
• Digital – September 9, 2025
• BluRay – ‎ October 3, 2025
• Video – 1080p
• Screen size 2.39:1
• Sound – English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
• Subtitles – English

Extras

• none