Honey O’Donahue (Margaret Qualley) is a small town private detective whose usual job is a cheating spouse gig. That is until her latest client is found dead before she has a chance to explain to Honey why she is so scared. 

Honey Don’t is the second film in the “Lesbian B-Movie Trilogy” that husband-wife partnership Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke have promised to deliver. The stories are only related via their creative team and have no connective plot tissue. Which is a good thing as I was rather disappointed with comedy road movie Drive-Away Dolls and am slightly more positive about this private detective noir. 

The touch points here are the likes of Chinatown, Inherent Vice and The Big Lebowski. The Chinatown links relate to the themes of parental abuse that run through the plot and the manner in which Honey carries herself, even giving a speech about why spouses should go and talk to their supposed cheating partners rather than hire someone to take pictures. Whilst the likes of Inherent Vice and The Big Lebowski prepare you for the idea that no matter how clever and busy a private eye might be they may not get anywhere close to understanding what on Earth is actually going on in the first place. And of course, this film is quirky! 

The best facets of Honey Don’t are its look and its lead. Set in a sunburnt small town with an impeccably tailored Private Eye strutting around with the kind of unfounded confidence of a functioning alcoholic… which Honey absolutely is, it looks fantastic. Slotted into this world are a bunch of quirky characters whose lives cross paths in strange ways. The key to your enjoyment is to appreciate that sometimes investigations can go nowhere. 

Qualley is positively fantastic as Honey and shares sizzling chemistry with Aubrey Plaza as police officer MG Falcone. Charlie Day plays a bizarrely loud and seemingly inept detective who draws a lot of laughs with his inability to decipher that Honey is a lesbian. And Chris Evans delivers another of his outlandish villains as a snake oil salesman of a Church Pastor. 

If you can gel with the sun-drenched quirky 1940’s noir vibe then you might gain some enjoyment. If however you are looking for a more satisfying and coherent crime story you will be left wanting. 

Coen and Cooke have said the third film will lean into horror B-Movie territory after their road movie and detective noir. Hopefully the quality curve will continue to grow when that film arrives.