If “cult noir” isn’t a genre, it is now, and it belongs entirely to Honey Don’t! Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke are back with another delightfully twisted road-trip comedy, and this time, they’ve turned the volume way up.
The trailer for Honey Don’t! dropped this week, and the internet promptly lost its collective mind over Margaret Qualley’s return as a hardboiled P.I., Aubrey Plaza’s femme fatale swagger, and Chris Evans playing…a cult leader?! Yes, really.
Set in a neon-tinted Bakersfield, California (though shot in New Mexico), Honey Don’t! follows Honey O’Donahue, a small-town private investigator digging into a suspicious string of deaths connected to a cryptic church.
Evans (bearded, glassy-eyed, and exuding just enough charisma to be terrifying) plays a preacher at the heart of the plot.
Add in Plaza as a “mystery woman” (who seems ready to burn the whole thing down), Charlie Day, Billy Eichner, and Talia Ryder, and you’ve got a cast that screams chaos in the most cinematic way.
Margaret Qualley’s Honey is a queer icon in the making
From her sultry, take-no-B.S. delivery to the swaggering shoulder pads and trench coats, Qualley’s Honey O’Donahue is already serving us queer noir heroine energy. Her chemistry with Plaza is teased just enough in the trailer to have fans thirsting. And theorizing.
Qualley called the experience “hard to put into words” in her conversation with IndieWire, adding that working with Plaza was “so special” and deeply meaningful.
It’s not just vibes, though. Honey Don’t! is the second entry in what Coen and Cooke are now calling their “lesbian B movie trilogy.”
In a 2023 interview with Collider, Cooke shared that these were originally meant to be drawer-bound scripts for their kids to laugh at one day. But now, thanks to the success of Drive-Away Dolls, the trilogy is taking shape. “Nobody does two,” Coen quipped. “You gotta do a trilogy.”
That’s not just a promise. It’s a queer cinema call to arms.
A cult leader Chris Evans is part of Honey Don’t!’s ensemble cast
Evans is swapping Captain America’s shield for something far more unholy. Honey Don’t! sees him as a cultish pastor whose sermons might just kill you.
Fans on social media are stunned by the transformation, with user @Miniqtz joking, “Not something I had on my 2025 bingo card.” Plaza, meanwhile, is breaking the internet in her officer’s uniform, with @beshert_x5 declaring, “DAMN POLICE OFFICER ROLE SUITS AUBREY 💅.”
The supporting cast? Chaotic perfection.
Charlie Day brings his signature neurotic energy, Billy Eichner balances absurdist humor with grit, and rising star Talia Ryder adds Gen Z bite. And for those keeping track: yes, that IS Don Swayze (Patrick’s brother).
With Focus Features backing it and a Cannes premiere on the horizon, Honey Don’t! is a vibe, a mood, an aesthetic. And honestly? We’d join that cult.
