Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (October 21, 2025)
On a break from his acclaimed partnership with brother Joel, Ethan Coen paired with wife Tricia Cooke for 2024’s Drive-Away Dolls. That acted as the first part of Coen/Cooke’s “Lesbian B-Movie Trilogy”, and 2025’s Honey Don’t! becomes the second installment.
At a fatal car wreck, private investigator Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley) recognizes the driver as Mia Novotny (Kara Petersen). A possible client, the two planned to meet up that day before tragedy occurred.
However, Honey suspects something at work beyond a basic vehicular accident. She embarks on a journey that reveals a mix of potentially nefarious domains, many of which appear connected to a church operated by handsome and charismatic Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans).
While I always found the Coen Brothers filmography to seem spotty, they undeniably created some strong movies. With Dolls as my first glimpse of Ethan without Joel, I wondered if the former needed the latter to succeed.
Put bluntly, Dolls offered a messy clunker. This sent me into Don’t with lowered expectations.
Did Don’t top the prior Coen/Cooke effort? Yeah, but take that as tepid praise, for even though Don’t becomes the better of the two movies, it still never really clicks.
While Dolls offered a road movie, Don’t falls firmly into the Neo Noir genre. The film checks off all the boxes expected from that kind of film.
It simply doesn’t explore these areas in a particularly compelling manner. As with Dolls, part of the issue stems from the manner in which Coen and Cooke tell this story.
While not overtly confusing, Don’t fails to turn into an especially coherent narrative. It hops around without much clarity.
Although its dots ultimately connect, one can excuse viewers who become a little lost in the sauce along the way. Don’t goes down enough different alleys that it sporadically loses its way.
Don’t also just lacks a tale that boasts a lot of intrigue, an issue exacerbated by the aforementioned story-telling concerns. The movie enjoys a basic mystery that should create interest but I never found myself all that curious to see where matters would go.
Even with these issues, however, Don’t never truly alienates the viewer. It manages just enough spark to ensure mild audience involvement.
A good cast helps, as in addition to Qualley and Evans, we find folks like Aubrey Plaza and Charlie Day. They add professionalism and some life to the proceedings.
But not enough to make Honey Don’t! better than a mediocre stab at drive-in noir fare. Maybe the third flick in the “Lesbian B-Movie Trilogy” will connect, but I don’t hold out much hope after two less than compelling films.
