Writers and directors Dusty Mancinelli and Madeline Sims-Fewer are back with another movie entrenched in trauma and decision-making. After their last outing, Violation (2020), which is a much more difficult watch content-wise, they deliver Honey Bunch which focuses on the lengths one will go to protect and save their loved ones. Of course, throughout the lengths of Honey Bunch, there is a lot that is uncovered and not everything is as it seems. Moreover, the disturbing, nearly psychotic nature of the movie becomes the fascinating point but is revealed too late for it to develop into something truly otherworldly the audience could sink their teeth into.
Grace Glowicki as Diana in HONEY BUNCH. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
The movie focuses on Homer and Diana (Ben Petrie and Grace Glowicki, respectively) as she wakes from a coma with memory loss and not sure how she got there. They’re at a medical facility trying to help Diana recuperate from her accident and get back on track to living her life, but something feels off. It doesn’t sit right with Dianna and she starts to question Homer and everything around her. However, she is not the only “patient” present here as she soon meets Josephina (India Brown) and her father Joseph (Jason Isaacs) as he is also trying to ensure she is back on the road to recovery after a traumatic accident. While they’re in therapy together, Joseph is consistently pushing Josephina harder while Homer is taking a more relaxed approach with Diana, but something isn’t adding up at all and things slowly start to unravel, making apparent what is, in fact, happening.
Jason Isaacs as Joseph in HONEY BUNCH. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
While we’re not going to spoil anything that happens, the big reveal of what is or isn’t happening here comes in the third act and if more of the movie was, in fact, focused on the events of the third act rather than the build-up and on-going sense that something eerie is lurking, it may have worked better. Not saying the film misfires, it just doesn’t fire on all cylinders as much as one hopes. There is a lot that the combination of Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer get right including the way the movie is crafted and the final moments which leave viewers at the edge of their seats. But the build to get to where we need to be is a little too slow and with too much left unclear along the way, resulting in a frustrating guessing game. When the audience finally gets to be clued in on where the movie wants to go and how it gets there, there is a payoff, but it feels almost out of left field. Overall, Honey Bunch does deliver something unbelievable and rewarding, the journey to get there just takes one too many detours.
L-R: Grace Glowicki as Diana and Ben Petrie as Homer in HONEY BUNCH. Photo courtesy of TIFF.
What works best here though, is the chemistry shared between Ben Petrie and Grace Glowicki (who, in real life, are a couple, and are in another TIFF 25 feature, Dead Lover, together) which is most likely why they’re so believable and potent in the film. Casting a real-life couple to play a couple going through situations like the ones their characters are going through taps into an already established deep trust in one another, strengthening their respective performances and allowing them to shine. With the inclusion of Jason Isaacs (The Death of Stalin) and India Brown (That Christmas), as well, Honey Bunch excels with great performances which would have benefited greatly from a tighter edit and some inklings of where the story was going before the late reveal. Overall, Honey Bunch does deliver, it just misses the mark of it being steaming hot upon delivery.
Screened during Toronto International Film Festival 2025.
Available on Shudder February 13th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Toronto International Film Festival Honey Bunch webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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