We’re approaching seven long years since the Coen Brothers’ last film collaboration, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), dropped unceremoniously on the Netflix streaming service. It’s been a dark time in this world since then, and it’s hard not to connect the dots between the turmoil we live in now and their creative partnership’s hiatus. While I don’t fully believe that our lives would be that much better if they got back together, I unabashedly know that Ethan Coen’s would be. 

Ethan’s first solo narrative feature, Drive-Away Dolls (2024), was met with mixed reviews and ultimately wasn’t terrible despite being a massive step back from the work we expect to see out of him. Not a great film, but from the jump, you can tell it isn’t trying to take itself too seriously. Coen’s latest project, Honey, Don’t!, sees him reunited with creative partner Tricia Cooke and actress Margaret Qualley for a neo-noir set in a small California town. 

After a truly dazzling opening credits sequence, the film kicks off with Private Investigator Honey (Qualley) meeting with Detective Matakawich (Charlie Day) at the scene of a grisly driving accident. Given that the deceased called Honey to set up a meeting, she suspects this might be more than an accident. Following this hunch and another lead from a different client, Honey embarks on an investigation that takes her all over town searching for the truth. 

On paper, this movie should be a slam dunk, or a number one hit on the Billboard Charts (shoutout “Golden”) for my non-sports fans. A neo-noir with an A-list cast written and directed by one of the most prominent filmmakers of the last 30 years should, at worst, be entertaining, right? Despite its promise, you’d be wrong in that assumption. Simply put, Honey, Don’t! is sauceless on virtually every front. 

Qualley is the only actor in the film that Coen and Cooke clued in on the tone, and everyone else is lost in a completely different movie. Chris Evans’ performance as Rev. Drew Delvin is magnetic at times, but he has too little screentime to make a huge impact. His church masquerading as a front for a local crime organization is the most compelling plot line of the film. With an 88-minute run time, though, it’s difficult to give it, or any other thread, much time to develop into something more than a passing idea. 

Evans as Rev. Drew Delvin in ‘Honey, Don’t!’ via Focus Features

Honey’s investigation leads her into the arms of MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), a low-level officer for the city. As a lifelong Plaza lover and defender, it pains me to say that she’s woefully miscast and actively bad here. Her line delivery is bland, and it seems like she barely even wanted to be there. 

The script fails its actors at every turn, either leading to odd conclusions or just not giving them enough to do. There’s not much technically helping this film either, with weak cinematography and jarring editing that moves way too fast for this kind of story. With Drive-Away Dolls releasing in February 2024 and Honey, Don’t premiering at Cannes in May 2025, it seems like Coen and his crew speed ran the making of this film, and it shows. 

Not every plot beat of every movie needs to make the most sense, or all weave together into some cool “holy shit” moment towards the end, but a film paying so much homage to the noir should have some sort of narrative cohesion in terms of the mystery Honey is looking into. 

The screenplay fails Honey the most, with virtually none of her actions leading the plot forward. She’s merely a passenger in the story, leading us from scene to scene. That would be fine if someone else were driving, but it feels more like a Waymo is taking these characters from one point to another with no one behind the wheel. 

Honey, Don’t! is frankly a huge disappointment from a prestigious and seasoned director like Ethan Coen. The film squanders the cool vibe and amazing cast with a convoluted story that makes zero sense. Hopefully, this is a sign to both Coen brothers that there’s a reason they worked so well together all those years and are in desperate need of an expeditious reunion. 

Review Courtesy of Cameron K. Ritter

Feature Image Credit to Focus Features via Variety