Director Ethan Coen (Fargo) shared his sapphic take on the hardboiled detective story with “Honey Don’t!”
The film debuted on Aug. 22, following Margaret Qualley (“The Substance”) as small-town detective Honey O’Donahue as she investigates the murder of a young woman with connections to a local megachurch. Coen, one half of the iconic filmmaking duo, the Coen Brothers, wrote “Honey Don’t!” with his wife, Tricia Cooke, providing an unofficial follow-up to their 2024 project, “Drive Away Dolls.” This newest film contains bizarre characters brought to life by strong performances. But honey, don’t expect a complex plot.
From the opening shot of a crime scene, Coen establishes a 1970s feel, using vibrant color grading and retro visuals as the perfect backdrop for small-town murder.
Audiences are quickly introduced to detective O’Donahue, who exhibits all the classic detective trope characteristics, from her loner status to her penchant for quippy remarks. However, her smart wardrobe and love for women set her apart from the usual archetype. While this may seem like one aspect of a larger character, Coen uses O’Donahue’s sexuality as the basis for much of the film’s humor. Qualley does an excellent job portraying O’Donahue with her sultry presence, pairing nicely with love interest and cop MG Falcone, played by Aubrey Plaza (“Parks and Recreation”), whose signature dry humor allows both actresses to deliver dark one-liners with ease.
Another standout performance comes from Chris Evans (“The Avengers”), who plays the corrupt yet charming Reverend Drew Devlin, leader of the Four-Way Temple, the megachurch at the heart of the murder mystery. Evans tackles the nefarious character with serious comedic chops, proving a highlight of the film.
While Coen succeeds in his character choices, the detective plot soon loses complexity. The introduction of a new conflict, O’Donahue’s missing niece, dilutes the initial mystery.
A visually stunning montage of O’Donahue driving around looking for her niece is set to the original song “In the Sun She Lies,” sung by Qualley as her alter-ego, Lace Manhattan. Recorded for the film, the song, like many of the elements of “Honey Don’t!,” is interesting in theory, but fails to add up to anything larger than the brief scene it fills.
While the latter half of the film provides gruesome fight scenes and intense lovemaking, “Honey Don’t!” fails to pick up into a fully fledged mystery. In the end, a plot twist that reads more dramatic than clever causes the film to come to a crashing halt.
For those looking to be entertained, “Honey Don’t!” will do just that, but its hour-and-a-half runtime proves too short for Coen to deliver both comedy and complexity. Standout performances, like those of Qualley and Evans, make for funny one-liners, and a cohesive aesthetic provides a backdrop of interest to the less-than-perfect plot. Overall, “Honey Don’t!” ends up as a kitschy comedy rather than a thought-provoking thriller.
3 lesbian detectives out of 5
