Honey Don't! (15)

California private detective Honey O'Donahue attends the scene of a fatal car accident. Honey recognises the victim as Mia Novotny and using her police contact, MG Falcone, the private eye speaks to Mia's parents about their daughter's recent activities. Evidence leads to the Four-Way Temple led by charismatic reverend Drew Devlin. As Honey digs deeper into the church, she learns about its clandestine operations and lets off steam during sexually charged encounters with MG.

LondonNet Film Review

Honey Don’t! (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Superstition suggests that bad luck comes in threes. If that’s true, it doesn’t bode well for next year’s Go, Beavers!, the concluding chapter of director Ethan Coen’s lesbian B-movie trilogy, which began with the lacklustre Drive-Away Dolls and continues to underwhelm with the loopy detective drama, Honey Don’t! All three instalments showcase the versatility of actor Margaret Qualley, seen recently as Demi Moore’s youthful foil in Oscar-nominated body horror The Substance. She is far better than this gruesome tale of a private detective blundering her way through an investigation into the suspicion death of a prospective client…

Coen’s script co-written with Tricia Cooke certainly has its diverting pleasures including a titillating bar room seduction that leaves nothing to the imagination and a playful performance from Chris Evans as a sex-obsessed reverend, who uses his questionable sermons (“We do not serve the temple by sittin’ there like macaroni!”) to groom female members of the congregation into showing their devotion to the Lord by submitting to him in the bedroom.

Evans is repeatedly naked in service of his character’s carnal desires and his blushes are spared in one amusing interlude by positioning the camera behind a co-star, blocking a clear sight line of the preacher’s stiffened resolve. Blackly humorous thriller elements venture into the same narrative territory as Coen’s work with brother Joel, including Blood Simple and Fargo, but the writing and its impact are duller. A sprightly running time limits the disappointment.

Private detective Honey O’Donahue (Qualley) works the beat in Bakersfield, California, repeatedly refusing the romantic overtures of homicide cop Marty Metakawich (Charlie Day) by plainly telling him that she likes girls. “You always say that,” he cheerfully responds, ever the optimist. Their paths cross at the scene of a fatal car accident. Honey recognises the driver as Mia Novotny (Kara Petersen), a potential client who never disclosed why she might require the help of a gumshoe.

Exploiting her police contact, MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), Honey tracks down Mia’s parents and learns about their daughter’s recent activities, including her willing admission to the flock of the Four-Way Temple led by charismatic reverend Drew Devlin (Evans). As Honey digs deeper into the unsavoury affair, she enjoys sexually charged encounters with MG and learns about the church’s clandestine operations, which defy teachings from The Bible.

Honey Don’t! takes a pleasant but forgettable drive through genre tropes that have served Coen well in the past. The haphazard journey and the picture’s ultimate destination are all familiar, enlivened by Qualley’s exuberant embodiment of an opportunist with a persistently high libido. Limited character development restricts the number of potential suspects for Honey to finger before she unwittingly cracks the case with a flurry of violence. Bloody and simple.

– Sarah Lee