Honey Don't (2025) Dir: Ethan Coen

Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRr1Rw_jQMH/?igsh=MWVuYWV0ODJ6azgxNQ==

Two things tempted me into going to see this Ethan Coen directed neo-noir comedy detective film; the first being the cast, most of whom I am a fan of, and the second being the trailer for it, which seemed highly amusing. However, my excitement was quelled by some very underwhelming reviews, which I skimmed shortly before going to the cinema. I still wanted to watch it, but I decided to drastically lower my expectations for it, just in case.

I loved the costume design - both Margaret Qualley and Chris Evans in particular were dressed exquisitely. I would even argue that the general cinematography of the film was fairly good. I'm not entirely sure that it needed to be shot as if on film, though it was actually shot digitally. The hazy, crackly footage didn't do anything for me, and only vaguely served the film's desired aesthetic. Furthermore, I was not at all keen on some of the shot selection in the film - I found several shots to be awkward and almost amateur-looking.

It felt like Coen and co-writer Tricia Cooke had the idea of the characters down, but nothing else. The story was so poorly structured, and went nowhere. The protagonist solved almost nothing herself, and instead had information or reveals plop themselves down into her lap. Even the final twist was extremely jarring. The film tried so hard to be smarter than its audience, and was way too busy foreshadowing red herrings to foreshadow the actual reveal, leaving it feeling exceedingly underwhelming.

There was so much totally needless and gratuitously explicit nudity and sex. It was so painfully clear that a man was directing the film. Nudity and sex can be an effective device for storytelling and character development, but in the case of this film, it seemed to serve no purpose other than the perverse. I was extremely disappointed by how the film portrayed women and their bodies. It felt like the film was cosplaying as progressive, without actually being it.

Margaret Qualley was the saving grace of this film, because without her, I feel this would have been nearly unwatchable. She was terrific, aside from the occasional accent slip. The charisma she has in her left toe is more than some actors can conjure up in a lifetime, and it really showed. I was really looking forward to seeing the often very amusing Aubrey Plaza in this film, but, unfortunately, I found her performance, much like the rest of the film, underwhelming. Her comedy didn't land nearly as well as it has in other projects, and her acting in the last act of the film was genuinely very poor.

Charlie Day just played the janitor from the 'Always Sunny In Philadelphia' episode; 'The Janitor Always Mops Twice'. It felt like I was watching some strange parody when he was on-screen. Chris Evans was very entertaining, but his character was weirdly underutilised, considering the role he seemed to be playing in the first half of the film. Much the same was true of Lera Abova, who I really think should have featured a lot more in the second half of the film. It was such a shame, honestly.

Overall, this was such a bizarre mess of a film. It was structurally awful, awkwardly written, and increasingly jarring. Even worse, the way Coen portrayed women and explicit saphic content in the film was extremely poorly done. The narrative felt half-baked and tangled up in itself, leading to a boring and frustrating drag of a detective film that I'm certain I won't be revisiting anytime again soon. I'm starting to think Ethan should ask Joel if they can reunite again, because I am not impressed by his lone efforts.