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Honey Don't!
Movie

Honey Don't!

2025 • Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Woke Score
9
out of 10

Plot

A small-town private investigator delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.

Overall Series Review

The film centers on private investigator Honey O’Donahue as she investigates a murder tied to a secretive evangelical church in Bakersfield, California. The protagonist's lesbian identity and sexual pursuits form the core narrative, overshadowing the mystery plot itself. The film treats the conservative setting and its primary institution, a storefront church, as a source of corruption and villainy. The main antagonist is a charismatic but depraved Reverend who is using his congregation as a front for a drug operation and sexual exploitation. Male characters are consistently portrayed as either predatory or incompetent, while the female lead navigates the world as a sexually liberated 'Girl Boss' type. The film is the second installment in a self-described 'lesbian B-movie trilogy,' placing alternative sexuality and identity politics squarely at the heart of its thematic drive.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The narrative focuses on a lesbian protagonist's immutable characteristic as central to her identity and her role as a detective. White male characters are predominantly depicted as 'clueless' and 'dense' or as 'scheming sex fiend' villains, elevating the protagonist's perspective in the intersectional hierarchy. The story's drive is not primarily on racial politics, but it frames the conflict around sexual/gender identity and moral superiority.

Oikophobia8/10

The movie sets its story in a small-town American 'Republican nook' that is framed as a dusty, unattended wasteland. The central villain is a 'crooked evangelical reverend,' directly demonizing a pillar of traditional American culture and presenting the local civilizational institution (the church) as fundamentally corrupt and a cover for depravity.

Feminism9/10

The female protagonist is a highly stylized, commanding 'Girl Boss' type whose casual sexual conquests with women are central to her personality. The film features a 'clunky runner' where the lead female PI repeatedly dismisses a pestering male homicide detective, portraying men as consistently bumbling, sleazy, or unable to accept a woman’s stated sexual preference. The primary male antagonist is a toxic, predatory man of God, effectively emasculating males by making them the source of all conflict and corruption.

LGBTQ+10/10

Alternative sexuality is the explicit, central, and driving force of the film, as it is the second of a self-described 'lesbian B-movie trilogy.' The protagonist's lesbian identity is constantly highlighted, with her sexual escapades being a significant and distracting element of the narrative. The heroine is framed as being 'immune' to the villain’s 'sales pitches for heterosexuality and holy salvation,' centering queer theory over traditional, normative structures.

Anti-Theism10/10

Traditional religion is the root of evil in the narrative, as the main villain is a 'shameless narcissist' and 'biggest sinner in Bakersfield' who uses his evangelical 'Four-Way Temple' as a front for drug dealing and sexual exploitation. This depiction squarely aligns the practice of traditional faith with criminality and moral corruption. The story offers no counterpoint of faith as a source of strength, firmly establishing the belief system itself as the source of societal harm.