''Honey Don't!'' is a 2025

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Ethan Coen Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957) is an American filmmaker. Working alongside his brother Joel, the duo have directed, written, edited and produced many feature films, the most acclaimed of which include '' Blood Simple'' (1984), '' ...

, who co-wrote the screenplay with Tricia Cooke. It is the second in a "lesbian

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

trilogy" following Coen and Cooke's ''

Drive-Away Dolls ''Drive-Away Dolls'' (alternately titled onscreen as ''Henry James' Drive-Away Dykes'') is a 2024 American crime comedy road film directed by Ethan Coen from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Tricia Cooke, who was also the film's edito ...

'' (2024), the film stars

Margaret Qualley Sarah Margaret Qualley ( ; born October 23, 1994) is an American actress. A daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, she trained as a ballet dancer in her youth. She made her acting debut in the 2013 drama film ''Palo Alto'' and gained recognitio ...

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began performing Improvisational theatre, improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. After graduating from New York University ...

, and Chris Evans. The film had its world premiere at the Midnight Screenings section of the

2025 Cannes Film Festival The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2025. French actress Juliette Binoche served as jury president for the main competition. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

on May 24, 2025, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States and Canada on August 22, 2025 by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...

Plot

Cast

as Honey O'Donahue, a private investigator *

as MG Falcone, a cop *

Charlie Day Charles Peckham Day (born February 9, 1976) is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Charlie Kelly on the FX Networks, FX dark comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Phila ...

as Marty Metakawich, a detective * Chris Evans as Reverend Drew Devlin, a cult leader *

Billy Eichner Billy Eichner ( ; born September 18, 1978) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and television show host. He is the star, executive producer, and creator of Funny or Die's '' Billy on the Street'', a comedy game show that aired on truT ...

Gabby Beans Gabby Beans is an American actress, writer, and producer. She studied acting at Columbia University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She has received a Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Awar ...

as Spider, Honey's assistant *

Talia Ryder Talia Ryder (born August 16, 2002) is an American stage and film actress. She made her feature film debut as Skylar in Eliza Hittman's critically acclaimed independent drama film '' Never Rarely Sometimes Always'' (2020) earning her nominations ...

as Corinne, Honey's niece * Lera Abova * Jacnier as Hector *

Kristen Connolly Kristen Connolly (born July 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Dana Polk in the 2011 film ''The Cabin in the Woods'', Christina Gallagher on the Netflix series ''House of Cards'' and Jamie Campbell on the CBS series ...

as Honey's sister *

Lena Hall Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal (born January 30, 1980), known professionally as Lena Hall, is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Tony Award for her performance as Yitzhak in the 201 ...

Don Swayze Donald Carl Swayze (born August 10, 1958) is an American character actor, noted for acting in dramatic series and soap operas as well as several feature films, and theatrical work. Early life Swayze was born in Houston, Texas, the middle child of ...

as Gary * Josh Pafchek as Shuggie, Drew's assistant *

Kale Browne David Charles "Kale" Browne (born June 16, 1950) is an American actor. Biography He was born in San Rafael, California. Browne was the first to play the roles of Michael Hudson on '' Another World'' (1986–1993, 1995–1998) and Sam Rap ...

* Alexander Carstoiu *

Christian Antidormi Christian Antidormi (born 20 May 1992) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles in several television productions, including ''As The Bell Rings'', ''Home and Away'', and the US television series, '' Spartacus: War of the Damned''. Ea ...

* Kinna McInroe

Production

In January 2024, it was announced that

, and Chris Evans were set to star in the film. The screenplay was written by married couple

and Tricia Cooke, as the second in a "lesbian

trilogy", following 2024's ''

'', which also starred Qualley and was also a lesbian-themed caper film, and coming before a planned third film ''Go Beavers''. The duo characterized the film as a

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

similar in tone to earlier

Coen brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

works, such as ''

Raising Arizona ''Raising Arizona'' is a 1987 American crime comedy film written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, a former police officer ...

'', but with sexual content the brothers did not typically include in their collaborations. The release of this trilogy is the outcome of 20 years of writing by Coen and Cooke. It was produced by

and

Working Title Films Working Title Films Limited, formerly Visionensure Limited and Working Title Limited, is a British film and television production company that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by ...

. In April 2024,

, Lera Abova, Jacnier,

, Josh Pafchek,

, Alexander Carstoiu, and

joined the cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

on March 25, 2024, and was set to wrap on May 10. Filming wrapped on May 25.

Release

''Honey Don't!'' was selected to be screened out of competition in the Midnight Screenings section at the

78th Cannes Film Festival The 78th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2025. French actress Juliette Binoche served as jury president for the main competition. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

, where it had its world premiere on May 24, 2025. ''Honey Don't!'' is scheduled to be released in the United States by

on August 22, 2025, and internationally by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Reception

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2020s American films 2020s English-language films American comedy films Bakersfield, California in fiction Films directed by Ethan Coen Films produced by Tim Bevan Films produced by Eric Fellner Films scored by Carter Burwell Films set in California Films shot in New Mexico Films with screenplays by Ethan Coen Focus Features films Working Title Films films Upcoming English-language films American LGBTQ-related films 2025 LGBTQ-related films Lesbian-related films