Margaret Qualley is back on the road with Ethan Coen after “Drive–Away Dolls.” The actress leads cowriters Coen and co-writer Tricia Cooke‘s latest dark comedy “Honey Don’t!” as the titular Honey, who is investigating a local cult.
Chris Evans stars as the religious leader at the center of Qualley’s investigation, while Aubrey Plaza plays a key “mystery woman.” Charlie Day, Billy Eichner, and Talia Ryder co-star. The ensemble also includes Lera Abova, Jacnier, Gabby Beans, Kristin Connolly, Lena Hall, Don Swayze, Josh Pafchek, Kale Brown, Alexander Carstoiu, and Christin Antidormi.
The official “Honey Don’t!” synopsis reads: “Honey O’Donahue is a small-town private investigator who delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.”
“Honey Don’t!” is set in Bakersfield, California, though it was shot in New Mexico. The feature is produced by Coen, Cooke, Robert Graf, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner, and will debut at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The project was first announced in 2024.
Qualley previously told IndieWire that she was more than excited to reunite with Coen and Cooke. “I just love Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke so damn much and love being on their set. I can can hardly put into words how special making that movie was for me and working with Aubrey Plaza, who is one of my favorite actors and people of all time.”
“Drive-Away Dolls” was Ethan Coen’s first narrative feature sans his brother Joel Coen, who also made his solo debut with “The Tragedy of Macbeth” in 2021. Ethan Coen recently teased a Coen Brothers reunion to Empire magazine, saying he and brother Joel Coen are “working on writing something” together after a creative split in 2018.
“Nothing happened, certainly nothing dramatic,” Ethan said at the time. “You start out when you’re a kid and you want to make a movie. Everything’s enthusiasm and gung-ho, let’s go make a movie. And the first movie is just loads of fun. And then the second movie is loads of fun, almost as much fun as the first. And after 30 years, not that it’s no fun, but it’s more of a job than it had been.”
He added, “Going our own separate ways sounds like it suggests it might be final. But none of this stuff happened definitively. None of the decisions are definitive. We might make another movie.”
“Honey Don’t!” premieres August 22 in theaters from Focus Features. Check out the trailer below.
