Honey Don't!

by Mike McGranaghan

Honey Don’t! is the second part of a planned “lesbian B-movie trilogy” Ethan Coen is directing and co-writing with editor/wife Tricia Cooke. It comes a year after the first installment, Drive-Away Dolls. Like that picture, this new one will divide audiences, not because of the queer subject matter but because the plot is intentionally a little shaggy. Despite being influenced by old school detective yarns, the central mystery isn’t the true focus.

Private detective Honey O’Donahue (Margaret Qualley) arrives at the scene of what appears to be a fatal car accident. The dead woman in the driver’s seat is a prospective client who called her the previous day, a fact she hides from police detective Marty Metakawitch (Charlie Day). In poking around, Honey discovers the woman’s connection to a shady church run by Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans), a fraud who traffics narcotics and sexually preys on vulnerable female parishioners. He also orders the murder of anyone who could incriminate him.

This is all presented up-front, so Honey Don’t isn’t really a whodunnit. The subplots are where the true substance lies. In one, Honey strikes up a steamy affair with cop MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza). In the other, her troubled niece Corinne (Talia Ryder) goes missing. What do these things have to do with the dead woman in the car? Everything and nothing.

There’s a key exchange between Honey and MG where both reveal they had fathers who were unsympathetic to their queerness. And therein, I believe, lies the point. Coen and Cooke are talking about societal reactions to lesbianism. Devlin exploits women, yet everybody around him looks the other way. A man using women for sex isn’t good but there’s an unspoken, generally accepted belief that men are inherently horndogs who will do whatever it takes to get laid. It’s “guys being guys.” Two women offering each other sexual pleasure, though? That’s pearl-clutching territory for many folks. The movie uses subtext to point out that consensual relations between two adults of the same gender is nowhere near on the same level as a member of the male gender manipulating or taking advantage of a female.

Again, that’s under the surface of what appears on its face to be a detective story. Margaret Qualley gives yet another tremendous performance as the unflappable Honey, a woman who proudly announces her sexuality. Often speaking in the kind of deadpan patter that marked many of the great films noir, the actress projects intelligence, wit, and, yes, more than a trace of eroticism. Her scenes with the also-terrific Aubrey Plaza are the film’s high points. Together, they strike up sizzling chemistry.

Honey Don’t benefits from the sort of snappy dialogue and moments of random weirdness that Coen perfected with his brother Joel in their best films. If you come expecting a riveting mystery, you’re bound to leave disappointed. Come for the loose vibe, fun performances, and queer themes and you’ll find a lot to savor.

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