Honey Don't! (2025)

Try explaining the plot of Honey Don’t! to a friend afterward. You’ll get two sentences in and give up, because the movie lost interest in its own mystery somewhere around the second clue. Margaret Qualley plays Honey O’Donahue, a Bakersfield private eye whose would-be client turns up dead in a wrecked car before they ever get to meet. A robe in the young woman’s bedroom points Honey toward the Four-Way Temple and its leader, Reverend Drew Devlin, played by Chris Evans. Meanwhile Honey’s teenage niece Corinne has run off, and that search keeps elbowing into the case. Qualley is terrific, all deadpan swagger, and Ethan Coen packs the edges with oddballs who could each carry a spinoff. But the movie is a pile of bits that never add up to a case. Critics split at 45%, and audiences were far colder. At 89 minutes it’s short, and it still wanders. A 3.8 because Qualley deserves a mystery worth solving. $9,566 says you start introducing yourself with your full name and a squint, like every private eye who ever lived.

What works: Margaret Qualley is a deadpan delight as Honey, and the supporting cast is packed with memorable weirdos.

What doesn’t: The mystery is an afterthought, and the gags pile up without ever building into a real story.

Who it’s for: Margaret Qualley fans and grown-ups who watch noir for the attitude rather than the plot.