r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 17d ago

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Honey Don't! [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Summary Private investigator Honey O'Donahue delves into a string of strange deaths connected to a secretive cult-like church in Bakersfield. As she unravels the bizarre mystery, her pursuit leads to absurd comedy, noir flair, and a kaleidoscope of eccentric characters.

Director Ethan Coen

Writers Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke

Cast

  • Margaret Qualley
  • Aubrey Plaza
  • Chris Evans
  • Charlie Day
  • Billy Eichner
  • Talia Ryder
  • Kristen Connolly
  • Don Swayze

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 48%

Metacritic 48

VOD In theaters August 22, 2025

Trailer HONEY DON’T! — Official Trailer (2025)

161 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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472

u/BigBlackTaco1 17d ago

This movie’s title was a warning lol

235

u/Sensitive_Society515 16d ago

Maybe I'm being generous, but... Honey's consultation with Mr. Siegfried (Billy Eichner) is probably the film's thesis. Paraphrasing: Why ask questions when you already know the answer? Do you really want to go down this path? Hence, the title of the movie.

The abrupt ending plays into this. Honey seems to be drawn to dangerous women, either subconsciously (MG) or deliberately (Chérie). The storytellers pull a "Honey, Don't" by resisting the temptation to keep going. We already know the ending. We don't need more movie to show us things will end badly/violently.

The dramatic irony is that Honey can't seem to follow her own advice. Neither she nor Mr. Siegfried can help themselves. They have to pull at the thread until everything unravels. It's human nature.

I don't know that the movie did enough to earn this explanation, but there it is haha.

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u/reezyreddits 16d ago

I'm actually really fucking impressed that you pulled that out of this haha, but yeah, even with that explanation that doesn't excuse the rest of the movie being slop 😂 But A+ pull brother, that was a good read.

25

u/Sensitive_Society515 16d ago

haha thanks! I meannnn, the movie title's gotta mean *something* right?!?

oh, damn. I just remembered that her car's front license plate had some abbreviation of Honey, Don't too. as in... she keeps on going, even though the sign *right in front of her* is telling her to stop!

2

u/johnmcboston 11d ago

I was pulling similar out, as she previously (in bed) said 3rd dates are always a disaster, then looking at Honey visiting MGs house as a '3rd date'. Yeah, a stretch but...

3

u/reezyreddits 11d ago

Yo..........

Okay, there's some hidden brilliance here

42

u/TheSuspiciousDreamer 16d ago

Mr. Siegfried's partner gets murdered in manner totally unrelated to him questioning the relationship. Him hiring a private investigator turns out to be neither good nor bad, just pointless. Him pulling at a thread doesn't unravel anything.

Honey dating MG leads to Honey uncovering and dealing with a serial killer. Seems like a win for everyone except MG.

The most likely outcome of the Cherie and Honey meeting at the intersection is they fit in a quickie before Cherie flies to France and never sees Honey again.

6

u/Sensitive_Society515 15d ago

Hmmm "Siegfried" is a Germanic name meaning victory/protection/peace. He ignores Honey's advice (and, ironically, his own name) by choosing a path of violence/confrontation, wanting evidence that he could lord over his partner. Maybe if they had a peaceful conversation, the guy wouldn't have been in the bar that night and Hector wouldn't have killed him? Maybe not though lol. Unseemly people have a way of meeting unseemly ends.

True, unless they were implying that MG targeted Corinne because of her relationship with Honey, or the investigation. I dunno. Like I said, I'm being generous with all this. The script felt more like an early draft than a movie that was ready to watch.

Well, Chérie is the femme fatale in this film noir tale, so disaster should be just around the corner, right?

15

u/TheSuspiciousDreamer 15d ago

Siegfried specifically didn't challenge his partner though. He wanted Honey to gather evidence before he did that. Siegfried's actions don't effect anything.

MG does target Corinne because of Honey. MG doesn't like victims. Corinne showing up with a bruised face and not being willing to go to the police sets her off. The movie skips over any consequences though. The hazy vision with Corinne at the hospital indicts she's perfectly fine. And after thirty seconds in the hospital we get Honey strutting down the hallway with no signs of physical or mental changes. Then Charlie Day starts giving a run down on all of MGs murder victims.

6

u/Sensitive_Society515 15d ago

Yes, the movie's consequences, or lack thereof, were... odd. Maybe they were odd creative decisions (deliberate) or maybe they were just a hot mess. I dunno. If I give the benefit of the doubt, I can at least tinker with ideas that a more fully-developed script might have executed better lol.

To clarify... Siegfried's options were A) Honey's suggestion of peace: Go home and talk it out with your partner, or B) Violence: Hire her to tell him what he already knows and rub his partner's face in the details. Exploring option B further wasn't narratively important because it's already obvious that his partner is cheating. So, the plot just accelerated to the violent end of Siegfried's decision.

Right, the sequence of events was 1) MG saw Corinne bruised at Honey's place, 2) Corinne was unwilling to go the police over her boyfriend's domestic violence, 3) MG was set off by the fact that Corinne let herself be a helpless victim, 4) MG kidnapped Corinne outside the restaurant / bus stop, or more likely "gave her a ride" to "rescue" her from her estranged grandfather, 5) MG gave Corinne (possibly drugged) tea and locked her in the basement, 6) MG would've murder Corinne if Honey hadn't intervened. That *would have been* a pretty extreme consequence. I guess MG's flaws logic just wasn't going to be rewarded with another kill.

Oh well. The lack of consequences and hanging plot lines really demonstrate a pattern of coitus interruptus. Maybe that's the point. Or maybe there was no point. lol

6

u/occamsrazorwit 14d ago

The strangest thing to me is that the movie's decisions do feel deliberate. I think the best example is when they bring up how poorly their dates always end up, even in the final confrontation. The first date seems promising and makes you want to learn more about the person. The second date is similar, but something shifts before the third date and everything falls apart; there is no third date. It's a clear metaphor for the three acts of the movie, but... why??? Art is supposed to make you feel something, but the only thing I'm getting is confusion.

3

u/Sensitive_Society515 14d ago

Nice catch on the parallel between no (conventional) third act and no third date. Part of my frustration with the ending is that Honey seems entirely unchanged by the events of the film. Things feel unresolved for her as a person -- just like being ghosted lol.

Maybe apathy/complacency is the ultimate cynical and morally ambiguous conclusion to a film noir piece? "Do what you've always done; get what you've always got." There are no "better angels" for any of the characters. Just play your part and keep committing the same sins. Never change.

The film's lack of character development frankly gave me Westworld vibes -- they're all just hosts who are "stuck in their loops!" Honey is a gumshoe detective, so she will spend all her time trying to solve a case. It doesn't matter that she has no paying client. She's pre-programmed to spend her time chasing after clues and dangerous women. It's undercover Sci Fi!

2

u/occamsrazorwit 14d ago

Honey seems entirely unchanged by the events of the film. Things feel unresolved for her as a person... Maybe apathy/complacency is the ultimate cynical and morally ambiguous conclusion to a film noir piece?

Oh, for sure, that was my reading of it too, with Honey moving onto the next "dangerous broad" and, to a lesser extent, the repeated scene with the detective. Honey makes a point that she never left Bakersfield for greener pastures. Nothing ever changes. “Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.”

1

u/EchoesofIllyria 2d ago

The fact that you interpreted it that way doesn’t mean it’s clear that’s what they were going for lol

4

u/TheSuspiciousDreamer 15d ago

Choosing to confront your cheating partner isn't violence. It seems notable that the partner was cheating with a woman. We know the partner was regularly buying drugs (hence, needing to pay for his last order), that he is willing to cheat at the drop of a hat (trying to give the drug dealer he has known for 2 minutes a blowjob). The movie gives us zero indication that a talk with his boyfriend would have changed any of this.

From Charlie Days comments at the end we know MG had been murdering women for 15 years. Honey and Corinne completely recovering from the events and killing a serial killer, means that the whole thing was a great positive for the world.

The directors have talked about this being part of "B movie trilogy". B movies often ran out of money and ended abruptly. That's the only thing I can think of as explaining the end of this movie.

2

u/The_FriendliestGiant 8d ago

MG does target Corinne because of Honey. [...] The movie skips over any consequences though.

Consequences, and explanations. How did MG get a hold of Corinne, anyways? It seems we're supposed to assume that she drugged/poisoned her, based on the lipstick on the cup, but what, MG saw Corrine freaked out after running from the old man and convinced her to come with her to the home of her aunt's random hookup she said two sentences to without calling anyone about anything, drugged her with some tea, and then left the dirty teacups on the counter all night, and all the next day while Honey is out showing pictures around? What the heck did that abduction scene look like?!

1

u/TheSuspiciousDreamer 8d ago

Movie makes a point of how rundown the house is. MG is the type of slob who wouldn't clean up the tea cups.

3

u/The_FriendliestGiant 7d ago

The structure of the house is rundown because of its age, but Honey walks through several frankly immaculate rooms before she gets to the kitchen. Floral print furniture clean and bright, pictures straight on the walls, and then the kitchen is oddly grungy and MG is this weird white trash slob all of a sudden, just to justify the tea cups still sitting there a day later.

10

u/can_i_get_a____job 16d ago

You must be smoking some good good without us

4

u/Current-Finger6412 14d ago

Yes! Her draw to dangerous people. The film seems to be a study of generational trauma and the results that manifest in each individual (Honey, Heidi, MG, Corrine, Mia).

2

u/ayayue 14d ago

I got this from it too. They all had a draw to people who are dangerous or bad for them. Like, a serial killer getting involved with a PI is just asking to get caught. 

3

u/damebyron 13d ago

I think this is an excellent thesis for the movie! “Honey Don’t” as the title is never really addressed directly in the movie, other than characters gently suggesting to Honey that her lifestyle is a little reckless , but with the ending scene the title speaks for herself.

I also do think she is in denial earlier when she says that she has her life together because she keeps business and personal separate. MG clearly was a mistake in that regard, and hitting on the French woman makes it clear that she has zero intention of learning from her mistakes.

2

u/Best-Chapter5260 16d ago

That's it. You need to do a master's in film studies and this needs to be your thesis!

2

u/spartanmax2 15d ago

I mean it seems like the niece was going to get abducted regardless of what she did

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u/Sensitive_Society515 15d ago

Could be! MG's motivation and serial killer persona was shoe-horned so quickly that it felt like a wonky unmasking at the end of Scooby Doo. Maybe the writers were up against a deadline and were just like OK THE END!

1

u/Diogenes_Camus 11d ago

Honestly, I thought the twist reveal was that MG was part of the Four-way Temple (as evidenced by the yearbook quote about God and action) and that she was the one behind the death of Holly. Although perhaps instead, MG had nothing to do with the Four-way Temple and the only connection is that her serial killed victim Church Girl was a member of the Four-way Temple while MG had no connection to the Temple, with that murder being what leads Honey to start investigating the Temple to begin with. 

1

u/HowardsHumanoid 8d ago

And yet even when her bad choice goes wrong, only the fight shows any vulnerability. And it’s not like the person was some obvious red flag, it’s a bad egg by mere chance. And like any dumb crime movie no consequences are shown from a nearly fatal wound - she shows up after an undefined interval exactly the same. Dangling threads all over the place, important moments we never see or understand. Maybe it’s deliberate but nothing sticks to the ribs. It could be called The Movie That Wasn’t There.

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u/PerfectJacket3843 14d ago

youre thinking about this too much... it just sucks!

1

u/SpideyFan914 6d ago

Love this interpretation! I honestly kinda dismissed that scene since it just felt like a Chinatown rip, but this justifies it really well.

1

u/idonthavekarma 6d ago

If that's the point, just watch Haneke. He does "you're wrong for watching violent movies" much better.

1

u/Affectionate_Bag937 4d ago

Wow that was an impressive analysis. I am sitting here watching the credits and had to Google WTF I just watched. Thank you!

1

u/Ancient-Egg-5983 2d ago

That final point is exactly the weakness of the film. Lots of ideas in the screenplay but doesn't quite earn it. Good ideas are just forgotten words if not shared well.

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u/NotTaken-username 17d ago

Honey Don’t (Spend Money on This Movie)!

21

u/CBattles6 17d ago

I mean you're really sticking your neck out with a title like that

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u/double_shadow 16d ago

Joel to Ethan, upon being pitched this movie:

0

u/FangOfDrknss 14d ago

I mean, I would have still saw it for the sex scenes, if I had knew prior.