‘Honey Don’t’ review: Margaret Qualley plays a PI in Ethan Coen’s slight California comedy

Dir: Ethan Coen. US/UK. 2025. 90mins

The saving grace of director Ethan Coen’s uneven but charming noir-comedy is its title character. As smart, tough-talking private eye Honey O’Donahue, Margaret Qualley provides Honey Don’t! with its crackle as she investigates a fatal car crash that looks like murder. With modest ambitions and a slender runtime, the film proves to be a sexy, amusing time – despite being fairly forgettable.

Most enjoyable when it rides along with its quick-witted antiheroine

Honey Don’t, which plays Cannes in an out-of-competition Midnight slot, is Coen’s second solo narrative feature after last year’s Drive-Away Dolls, also starring Qualley, and the ensemble here includes Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans. Releasing in the US on August 22, Honey Don’t! never aspires to the outrageous comedic heights of Coen’s beloved films with brother Joel, and as such may be a more successful proposition later on streaming.

In sleepy, sunsoaked Bakersfield, California, the no-nonsense Honey (Qualley) works as a private detective. A young local woman named Mia recently died when her car careened off a twisty mountain road, but Honey doesn’t believe it was an accident — especially because Mia inquired about her services the day before the crash. The clues point toward a sleazy reverend named Drew (Evans), who preaches a gospel of kindness but is quietly involved in myriad criminal activities.

Much like Drive-Away Dolls, Honey Don’t! is written by Coen and his spouse Tricia Cooke, and prominently features out-and-proud lesbian characters while criticising America’s conservative religious tendencies. But unlike the 2024 film, this new comedy has a memorable main character, who is lusted after by hapless police detective Marty (Charlie Day) and patronised by the smug Drew. Wherever she goes, Honey is underestimated and judged only by her beauty, but her steady supply of withering one-liners appealingly puts the dumb men around her in their place.

Coen introduces a romantic subplot by having Honey meet MG (Plaza), a snarky cop who instantly piques her interest. It’s telling that Qualley and Plaza’s chemistry is far more richly realised than the film’s cartoonish male characters, creating a sense that these two women have found an oasis in each other amidst this parched California desert climate. Honey Don’t! also delivers legitimately steamy love scenes that convey character and even provide the occasional laugh.

Elsewhere, the film’s whodunit fails to generate much suspense. Really, the plot is just an excuse to watch Honey confront potential suspects and slowly put the puzzle together. Qualley conveys a lot through stillness, and she and Coen have clearly conceived the character as a winning mixture of two noir types: the cynical gumshoe and the seductive femme fatale. But despite Honey’s steely exterior, Qualley also manages to locate this private eye’s slightly softer side once Honey goes looking for her missing niece Corinne (Talia Ryder), who may be connected to this murder. It’s a performance that’s both sly and grounded, buoyed by Qualley’s piercing, seen-it-all glare.

Fans of the Coens, who have not made a picture together since 2018’s The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs, will surely spot Honey Don’t!’s similarities to the brothers’ earlier work — specifically, the arid landscapes of No Country For Old Men and the farcical supporting characters of comedies like Burn After Reading. To be sure, this film lacks the ingenious storytelling and killer jokes of the Coens’ best work, preferring a more laid-back tone. (Even the moments of brutal violence don’t possess the usual visceral shock.)

Unfortunately, the film’s breezy approach also leads to some overly broad comedy — most notably from Evans as the horny, scheming preacher. Forget the guys: Honey Don’t! is most enjoyable when it rides along with its quick-witted antiheroine, even if one wishes the vehicle she was in had a little more oomph.