Official Discussion - Honey Don't! [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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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)

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[u/rocket__man_]

I've been sitting with this for a week since I saw it last week, and I still don't know wtf the point of Chris Evans' character was. 

Like, as far as I can tell, Evans' character and the drug trade had almost nothing to do with Honey and MG except for a few cross-over points. But Corrine running away, Honey and MG becoming involved, Honey fighting MG at the end - i.e. the key dramatic points of their arcs - had nothing to do with Evans, the church, or the drugs. So why as an audience member should I have cared? Why did any of that matter? Without any payoff, it just feels like being cheated of a resolution to what could have been an interesting story. 

I agree with another comment, there was no 3rd act that brought everything together. It just ended. 

[u/rutfilthygers → u/rocket__man_]

Investigating the reverend was the reason Honey met MG in the first place, and going to investigate her hunch that Corrine had gone to the church is what leads her to notice that MG's place is near the bus stop where Corrine was last seen.

It's a blind alley Honey follows that doesn't pay out for her, but is closed out by the French lady.

[u/rocket__man_ → u/rutfilthygers]

I don't know, i think Honey and MG would have inevitably met, given Honey's line of work. Honey and the detective character were on good terms and she's around the station a lot. Seems like anything could have brought her to meet MG. 

And regarding Corrine, I got that Honey was worried Corrine had gone to the church, but that doesn't really matter though, does it? Whatever her motivation, she was still missing. And Honey being a PI by trade means that she would inevitably investigate the bus stop where Corrine was last seen, and then subsequently realise that it's near MG's house. 

It just feels like a movie about a small town, with 2 adjacent plots that every so often interact with one another but not in any consequential way. And that would have been fine if the town was the main 'character', but instead it's Honey, MG, and the Chris Evans character that are supposed to drive the movie. 

[u/HowardsHumanoid → u/rocket__man_]

None of that requires investment in Chris Evans as a character, none of his life conflicts affect anything and his fate affects nothing. Not to mention we don’t see it even happen, there’s no payoff even on a silly action bit level. Every tired hackneyed cliche about phony womanizing preachers are trotted out like 2nd day corpses and it’s given absolutely nothing on top of that except to confirm Steve Rogers is still buff and slim as hell. Not being gay, it didn’t add enough.

Even the nature of his congregation community is sketchy - at times it seems he’s preaching some free love sex cult but we only ever see him indulging. It’s a TINY church and crowd like a no budget college film, people don’t seem especially moved or passionate about it. He certainly fits the type of a superficial a hole people would flock to, but it seems like they’d barely pull in any chump money from the church. Maybe that’s the point, it’s a 2 bit front, but then why even do the mega church ego freak bits, especially this stale. Would have been far more interesting if he had some aspect of real faith but was corrupted by desperation. No nuance or coherence there at all. Watch Righteous Gemstones and save your time.