Honey Don't! is a 2025 neo-noir comedy film directed by Ethan Coen from a screenplay by Coen and Tricia Cooke. It's the second film in a kind of spiritual trilogy by the filmmakers, following their previous Drive-Away Dolls and set to conclude with one called Go Beavers!
Private investigator Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley) looks into a woman's death in a small desert town. Her investigation, aided by small-town cop MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), leads her to a mysterious church led by the charismatic reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans).
The film debuted out of competition at Cannes 2025 and was released in the United States on August 22, 2025.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Downplayed. Homicide detective Marty Metakawich is very attracted to Honey despite her frequent insistence that she's only attracted to women, though he doesn't believe her and still tries to get her personal number. Honey mostly treats this as a joke rather than something serious because of his status as The Ditz.
- Abusive Parents:
- Honey's father was physically abusive with her and her sister, as well as their mother; Honey unsurprisingly not fond of the man, and spares him no sympathy when he turns up and tries to reconcile with her.
- MG's father used to beat her for displaying bad table manners, which apparently happened often. It eventually got bad enough that she outright murdered him.
- Accidental Murder: Hector violently rebuffs the advances of Mr. Siegfried’s boyfriend, and when he attempts to escape, he accidentally runs him over in the parking lot.
- Action Girl: Honey is skilled at using improvised weapons and a crack shot with a gun.
- The Alcoholic: Honey admits this openly and is not ashamed of it.Drew: Do you drink?
Honey: Heavily, it's a point of pride. - Ambiguous Ending: Honey flirting with Chère after noticing each other at a stoplight at the end of the film opens more questions than it answers.
- Ambiguous Syntax: After Hector commits an Accidental Murder of a client in view of a waiter, Drew says to Shuggie that they have to kill “him” (Hector). Shuggie, however, initially believes that they have to kill the waiter because He Knows Too Much only for Drew to berate him for the confusion and say that they have to kill Hector since the waiter has already told the police of what he witnessed while Hector is a loose end.
- Ambiguous Time Period: The cars and fashions (not to mention hairstyles) would suggest the film takes place in the late-70's to mid 80's until modern technology comes up in casual conversation, and Mr. Siegfried explains his need to wipe the chair clean before sitting down as being afraid of COVID.
- And Starring: The rapid-fire cast announcement at the beginning of the trailer: "Margaret Qualley Aubrey Plaza Charlie Day and Chris Evans".
- Anyone Can Die: The film has a high body count, ranging from minor characters like Shuggie and Hector to major players like Drew and MG.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Mickey keeps a loaded shotgun close at hand. Honey averts this by making sure the gun is empty before smashing it into uselessness.
- Asshole Victim: A fair number of characters qualify. Dr. Drew largely got what he deserved but Colligan and Shuggie would fall into a territory where they are more run-of-the-mill sinners and get killed unjustly.
- Ax-Crazy: MG turns out to be a serial killer who (mainly) targets women who have not extricated themselves from abusive or exploitative situations to her liking. She not only murdered Mia but also killed two sex workers and her own father beforehand, and attempts to kill both Honey and her niece.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Honey’s assistant Spider is a downplayed version. She’s more frustrated that Honey is more interested in doing things herself rather than let Spider do those tasks for her “like an assistant”. Also crosses over with Sarcastic Devotee.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Hector is a soft-spoken, amiable young man who insists on doing some of his elderly grandmother's chores for her. He also has no qualms with brutally murdering one of Drew's associates as revenge for killing his beloved grandmother.
- Boom, Headshot!: Honey finishes MG off with a bullet through the forehead; after all is said and done, Marty marvels at the marksmanship such a shot required under the circumstances.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Honey, who claims to forgo using a cell phone in favor of payphones and genuinely uses a rolodex instead of a computerized database. This is lampshaded.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Corinne has shades of this, disobeying her mother by staying with her boyfriend Mickey overnight without her approval.
- Butch Lesbian: MG is a short-haired, tough and taciturn lesbian who's a cop with a masculine clothing style.
- Coming and Going: Chère kills Drew right after they have sex.
- Comically Missing the Point: Honey doesn’t understand that her little nephew is being playful when he’s asking to marry her.
- Commonality Connection: Both Honey and MG bond over their childhoods, where both their fathers were abusive towards them. Of course, while Honey's father simply left the family and they want nothing to do with him, MG murdered her father and covered it up in a fire.
- Cool Aunt: Honey is this to her nieces and nephews, bringing gifts and being more empathetic than their overworked mother.
- Corrupt Church: Drew is a narcissistic hypocrite commands his followers to submit to the will of God while the altar is adorned with photos of him. He also compels women in his congregation to sleep with him, and his church is also a front for an international drug operation that regularly kills anyone who is considered a threat.
- Dad the Veteran: MG’s late father was a war hero in the military who was killed overseas. Except MG lied about the “war hero” part when in fact, he was an abuser whom she killed in their home.
- Dark Action Girl:
- MG is a female cop and Serial Killer who gives Honey quite a fight near the end.
- Chère works for a French crime syndicate and she shoots Drew dead on their behalf.
- Defective Detective: Honey is an alcoholic PI with a Dark and Troubled Past as a child abuse victim whose abusive dad eventually left the family. She seems mostly well-adjusted despite it all.
- Didn't Think This Through: Honey's father, wanting to reconnect with his family, somehow thought the best way to do so was to go to his granddaughter's workplace and stare at her, wait for her at the bus stop, and have the first words out of his mouth be "I love you"; unsurprisingly, Corinne is freaked out by what she assumes to be a creepy homeless guy and runs away from him.
- Disposable Sex Worker: MG's previous victims are said by Marty to included "two hookers." Honey corrects him by saying "sex workers."
- Domestic Abuse: Corinne is being beaten by her boyfriend, but excuses him and won't leave. Her aunt Honey, who suffered abuse from her own father (as did Honey's mother and sister) beats him over this.
- Feet-First Introduction: The trailer's proper introduction to Honey is through her black heels clacking against the floor of the police station.MG: I love those...click-clacking heels.
- Female Misogynist: MG, a Serial Killer who targets women she deems too weak to leave abusive relationships.
- Femme Fatale: Chère, who is part of the Four-Way Temple drug smuggling operation and who also seduces and later kills Drew when “the French” prove unsatisfied with the pastor’s end of the business.
- Foreshadowing: Despite being a cop, MG is remarkably nonchalant about Corinne being abused by her boyfriend. She's later revealed to be a serial killer who targets women who can't get out of abusive situations, so MG not only lacks sympathy for Corinne, but would gladly kill her given the chance.
- Given Name Reveal: Tough Butch Lesbian cop MG Falcone turns out to have the very flowery and feminine given name of Mary Grace, appropriate for someone who grew up in a devoutly Christian household.
- Hates Their Parent: Honey understandably doesn't like her father, who abused her.
- He Knows Too Much: Zigzagged and Played for Laughs. As mentioned in Ambiguous Syntax, Shuggie initially thinks that he has to kill the waiter after he witnessed Hector’s Accidental Murder. However, the waiter has already told the police of what he saw and Drew doesn’t want to draw more attention by killing the man, thus subverting this trope. However, it’s played straight at the same time since Shuggie is sent off to kill Hector since if he is directly connected to the killing, he will likely reveal the church’s drug smuggling operation.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Honey fights back against MG with her own boiling tea kettle, bludgeoning and burning her with it, and manages to get a hold of MG's gun to finish her off.
- Honey Trap: Chère seduces Drew to murder him after they have sex as her criminal employers want him dead.
- Honor Before Reason: When he confronts Drew, Hector averts his eyes from the women Drew is having sex with. His chivalry costs him his life when it lets Drew sneak around him unnoticed to knock him down, steal his gun, and kill him.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Honey, while bleeding profusely and in a seated position, manages to put a bullet square through MG's forehead. Marty lampshades how difficult the shot must have been after Honey recovers.
- Incompatible Orientation:
- Marty is constantly trying to ask Honey out on a date, to no avail. She keeps telling him that she likes women, but he's either in denial or too dense to realize that she's serious.
- Drew tries to use his masculine charm on Honey, but she's totally unfazed and doesn't bother to hide her contempt for him.
- Insistent Terminology: Marty refers to a couple of cold cases involving the murders of "two hookers." Honey corrects him: "Sex workers." Meaning well but not getting it, Marty corrects himself to say "sex hookers."
- Interrupted Intimacy: Hector bursts in to kill Drew when he's having a threeway with two women.
- Karma Houdini: Chère faces no consequences for her involvement in drug smuggling or her murder of Drew. While she does cross paths with Honey at the end of the movie, Honey has no idea of her crimes and is just looking for a hookup.
- Killer Cop: MG is revealed to be a serial killer who uses her job as a cop to avoid being caught.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Honey is a lesbian with long wavy hair who always has on makeup, jewelry and often wears nice dresses, or blouses with slacks. Indeed, her style overall looks like a throwback to something from the 1950s or 60s.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Honey is told that Mia Novotny's death was declared an accident. Honey isn't so sure and digs deeper. The car crash that most likely killed her was an accident, but it was caused because Mia was bleeding from a stab wound inflicted by MG, who absolutely intended on killing her.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: MG starts to finger Honey at the bar as they're sitting together before they go back to Honey's place.
- Mama Bear: Aunt variation. After Honey learns that her niece Corinne is being abused by her boyfriend Mickey, she tells her to leave the relationship immediately. Later, after Corinne disappears, Honey beats the living crap out of Mickey because of this abuse.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Lipstick Lesbian Honey and Butch Lesbian MG become lovers, though Honey makes it clear their relationship is only sexual.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Heidi, Honey’s sister, has no less than six children and is expecting yet another child.
- Ms. Fanservice:
- Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza in flagrante? Yes please.
- Chère, soon after her introduction, is shown skinny-dipping and later, gets both a sunbathing scene and a sex scene.
- Never My Fault: Honey's father chalks up his abuse of his wife and daughters to "not knowing" how to be a husband or father and when he tries to re-enter his family's lives, he acts like Honey's hostility is unfair and starts crying pathetically. Honey understandably has no sympathy.
- No Periods, Period: Averted; while Honey is visiting her sister and her family, Honey's niece Corinne enters carrying her bloodstained bedsheets for the laundry. Corinne's little brother Dizzy panics, fearing that Corinne's been hurt, but his mother explains that all women menstruate (which only freaks him out more). Later, after Honey has been badly wounded, Dizzy asks "Aunt Honey? Are you menstruating?"
- No Social Skills: Honey is not good at playing along with her toddler nephew’s request to marry her. Instead, she cites statutes of law which would make it illegal. She also appears to have no idea that repeatedly saying no to Charlie Day’s character with an explanation that she likes girls doesn’t seem to be working. She also doesn’t let her secretary get her coffee for her.
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Honey, in her introduction, leaves behind the woman whom she just had sex with the night before without waiting around.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Considering how horrible he is and how much this film embraces gore and violence, it would have been pretty darn satisfying to see Pastor Drew be shot.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: MG turns out to stand for Mary Grace. She is never called this though.
- Parental Abandonment: Honey's mother is dead, while her father has been gone for years before he appears abruptly seeking reconciliation. She turns this down.
- Patricide: MG had murdered her father for being abusive, Honey learns toward the end.
- Police Are Useless: Downplayed example with Marty Metakawich, who acts as The Ditz due to believing that Honey thought that the (obviously deceased) Mia wasn't dead. However, he does give Honey some valuable information during her investigation, showing he occasionally can be competent. MG Falcone, on the other hand, is outright murderous.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Drew makes it clear he's not going to have a witness to a murder, executed as he's already talked to the Police so what's the point? Instead he just tells his minion to kill the doer to clip the branches.
- Private Detective: Honey is a private investigator who stumbles upon several murders pursuing her cases.
- Queer Establishing Moment
- Honey is introduced after having had sex with a woman on the previous night.
- Mr. Siegfried is almost immediately shown to be gay, asking Honey to find out if his boyfriend's cheating.
- Colligan, after he's killed, turns out to be the boyfriend of Mr. Siegfried.
- MG flirts with Honey, starts fingering her, then goes back to Honey's place for sex, which shows her as a lesbian as well.
- Chère returns Honey's flirting at the end, showing her to be into women too.
- Really Gets Around:
- Drew has bedded no less than four different women by the end of the film.
- Meanwhile, Honey is introduced in bed with another woman, has a romantic affair with MG, and ends the film flirting with Chère.
- Red Herring: The church and Drew's drug-running operation turns out to have absolutely nothing to do with Mia's death and Corinne's disappearance. They are sinister and preying on the vulnerable, but when it comes to the mystery, they're a mere Outside-Context Problem unrelated to the actual culprit.
- Rejected Apology: Honey coolly turns down her abusive father's attempt to apologize, indicating he's dead to her.
- Repurposed Pop Song: Dusty Springfield's "Spooky" scores the trailer.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: After Corinne disappears, Honey goes to MG's house to get her help finding her; going to see MG does help solve Corinne's disappearance, because MG is holding her captive and plans on killing her.
- Rule of Three: Honey sees Chère driving by on her moped three times, with the attractive Frenchwomen catching her eye each time. The last time, at the end of the movie, has Honey talk to and flirt with her, with the implication that they'll sleep together.
- Sex for Services: Colligan propositions Hector rather than pay what he owes. Hector takes great offense and it leads to his Accidental Murder.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The whole church subplot ends up being this. Hector's revenge is cut short when Drew shoots him dead and Drew himself is suddenly killed by Chère after the French are displeased with how his operation is going.
- Sinister Southwest / Sunshine Noir: Based on signs in the intro, the film is set in Bakersfield, California. The town is portrayed as sparsely populated, surrounded by deserts, and lot of the action takes place in daylight.
- Smoking Hot Sex: Honey smokes after having sex with MG the second time they're together.
- Supermodel Strut: Honey walks with her hips swaying in high heels inside the police station as a sign of her confident manner.
- Take That!: Corinne's physically abusive, trailer park-living, Gun Nut boyfriend has a MAGA bumper sticker on his truck. After beating the crap out of him for abusing Corinne, Honey makes a point of replacing his bumper sticker with a more progressive one (“I have a vagina and I vote”).
- They Just Don't Get It: Marty simply cannot accept the idea Honey is gay as he constantly tries to ask her out and brushes off any talk of her not being into any men.
- Three-Way Sex: Drew has sex with two women once in the film.
- Titled After the Song: The title is taken from the 1956 rockabilly song "Honey Don't" by Carl Perkins. The cover version by Wanda Jackson plays during the closing credits.
- Vanity License Plate: Honey's license plate says "HNYDONT", and the first closeup of it serves as the movie’s title card.
- Wife-Basher Basher: Honey beats the snot out of Mickey for being abusive towards her niece Corinne. Inverted with MG, who is a Serial Killer of women who she deems to be too weak because they won't leave abusive relationships.