Honey Don't! (15)

The salty presence of Margaret Qualley as an old-school, small-town private investigator is the main draw of this low-key comedy noir whodunnit from Ethan Coen.

Part two of Coen and Tricia Cooke’s so-called “lesbian B-movie trilogy,” following 2024’s Drive-Away Dolls, Honey Don’t relocates hard-boiled mystery to the sunny streets of California. Qualley stars as Honey O’Donahue, a cynical, no-nonsense private eye drawn into the car-crash death of a woman tied to a cultish local church. Chris Evans plays the charismatic Reverend Drew Devlin, whose unusual methods of bringing his flock closer to God veer into the scandalous.

The film embraces its absurdity, a self-aware neo-noir that winds a bemused mystery around a core of cynicism and desire. It isn’t going to rewrite the crime genre, but it’s a showcase for Qualley’s magnetic screen presence. She carries the film with wit, cunning, and effortless charm, bending each and every scene to her rhythm.

Laced with satirical jabs at Middle American hypocrisy, Honey Don’t is throwaway fun with swagger. A breezy, entertaining excursion where Qualley proves herself impossible to ignore.