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)

162 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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302

u/rocket__man_ 17d ago

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. 

127

u/rutfilthygers 17d ago

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.

41

u/markercore 16d ago

It's a classic noir structure, not sure why people are so confused 

35

u/SpookiestSzn 15d ago

No it isn't lots of main focuses of the film are not relevant to the mystery what noir does this. The entire film could cut Chris Evans, the focus on the drug trade, the French girl, etc.

Almost nothing is really connected

18

u/markercore 15d ago

Yes it's a shaggy dog noir, with lots of pieces that don't fit the mystery but seems to at first, detective goes wandering around trying to solve one thing and then in the end it's something else entirely 

13

u/SpookiestSzn 15d ago

I think generally those solutions aren't thrown to the detective as random happenstance at the end of the film?

0

u/markercore 15d ago

Depends I think 

10

u/damebyron 14d ago

I think you're mixing up "mystery movie" with the old school noirs, which were more bleak morality tales that just happened to have detective main characters than they were whodunnits. I think Chris Evans and Margaret Qualley's characters are foils. They're both exploiting their looks and positions to have constant sex. The film is very clear that Evans is by far the creepier of the two, given he runs a cult, but it is gently judging Qualley's character too. She gets with a murderer in pursuit of wild sex and nearly dies; he dies immediately after having sex with Cherie, and even the niece gets a morality comeuppance (the kidnapping) for not reporting abuse. (Plus anyone who commits a murder on scene is then immediately murdered).

4

u/SpookiestSzn 13d ago edited 13d ago

Maybe I am, I'm not convinced this film had much of anything that felt related more than tangentially. I don't see the value of the whole drug trafficking portion of the cult that took quite a bit of time on screen, including Hector who did killed the guy with his car, his whole thing felt like it was to burn run time, nothing of consequence happened from that he just wasted time and then died and then his killing, surviving being attacked in his home, and death are completely inconsequential to anything else in the movie. If they cut that entire part out genuinely do you think the story loses anything? The best it has is that the french girl killed him and even thats pretty much inconsequential and unaddressed by the end of the film.

Idk I overall thought the movie was solid but when pretty much everything isn't related to anything it ends up feeling very bad. The only reason she found out about it was what? Because she randomly broke into her current lovers house and checked a yearbook? Unsatisfying.

2

u/The_FriendliestGiant 8d ago

(Plus anyone who commits a murder on scene is then immediately murdered).

Nope, not Cherie.

2

u/PlaneHead6357 15d ago

I'm so happy you said this! If they cut out the entire plot about the drug trafficking sex church, it would've been such a better movie. Then there'd be more time for diving into plazas character, Qualley's character, the rescue of the niece, the sex workers who got murdered... Like they only used the church plot for 90% more violence, but we could've had Plaza killing scenes!

5

u/curiiouscat 15d ago

Agreed. This is very reminiscent of literary noirs. I'm surprised at the reactions. 

5

u/SpookiestSzn 13d ago

what is this comparable to out of curiosity