Aubrey Plaza’s New Dark Comedy Proves That the Coen Brothers Work Better Together

It’s been a difficult few years for sibling filmmakers, with everybody from the Wachowskis to the Safdies, from the Hughes brothers to the Farrellys breaking up and going their separate ways. But no split was as significant as that of the Coens. Often regarded as one of the finest American directors of all time, they haven’t worked together since 2018’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which was released on Netflix. In fact, their last theatrical project together, Hail Caesar, is nearly a decade old at this point. Ethan Coen has a new movie out this week, but, as with his last solo directorial effort, critical reception for it hasn’t been as warm as what he was used to.

Starring Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza, the neo-Western Honey Don’t! debuted this week to mixed reviews, clashing against fellow mid-tier projects such as the farcical Splitsville, and Ron Howard’s star-studded survival drama Eden. Honey Don’t! currently holds a rather underwhelming 46% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Disparate parts and desperate measures spell defeat for Ethan Coen this time around in a romp that tries to cast a wide net but will ultimately leave audiences saying, Honey Don’t.”

Audiences weren’t exactly impressed with the movie either, giving it an even lower 42% score on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Collider’s Therese Lacson wrote that the movie “struggles to stay in the lane it set for itself and, with eyebrow-raising decisions, the film ultimately fails to satisfy.” Honey Don’t! serves as a spiritual sequel to Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke’s planned trilogy of “lesbian B-movies,” which began with Drive-Away Dolls last year. Also starring Qualley, the movie tanked with just $8 million at the box office, and earned mixed reviews. It’s sitting at a 64% critics’ score and a 37% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Coen Brothers Have Had a Mixed Run Following Their Split

Ethan also directed a documentary on Jerry Lee Lewis following his split from brother, Joel Coen. Joel has directed only one film after the separation, the acclaimed William Shakespeare adaptation The Tragedy of Macbeth, which earned star Denzel Washington an Oscar nomination a few years ago. Their regular collaborator, composer Carter Burwell, had suggested in the past that “Ethan doesn’t want to make movies anymore,” although, more recently, Ethan told Collider that he and Joel got “out of sync.” You can watch Honey Don’t! in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.


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Honey Don’t!

Release Date

August 22, 2025

Runtime

90 Minutes

Director

Ethan Coen

Writers

Tricia Cooke, Ethan Coen

Producers

Eric Fellner, Robert Graf




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