Honey is a private detective who struts through the Californian desert in red click-clack shoes and speeds from one case to the next in her convertible. This attracts attention – especially the undesired kind, from men. Honey saying that she’s into women doesn’t help. Amid the mysterious murders surrounding a promiscuous cult leader, she finally gets the opportunity to enlist the services of lesbian police officer MJ. During their first bar date it becomes clear that there’s a bad guy at play here too – in an ambiguous sense. Who is using who in the end and could the disappearance of Honey’s niece be part of a wrong-headed feminist revenge plan?

Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke continue their bawdy “lesbian B movie trilogy” in this second part in the expected manner. The married couple revealed in an interview that the idea for the trilogy had been perculating for a long time and they mostly just don’t want to take themselves too seriously. Let’s hear it for B movies then – and lesbian love? Compared to DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, there are a few less phallus jokes and a few more serious conversations about the patriarchy. There’s still the persistence of the male, heterosexual gaze, however. This might also be because Margaret Qualley (POOR THINGS) and Aubrey Plaza (White Lotus) provide some retro sex appeal as a private detective and cop. Last but not least, the many archetypes – from the perverted priest (Chris Evans) to the simple-minded investigator (Charlie Day) – are part of what makes the film so quirky and humorous in the Coen style. But the cartoonish violence isn’t the only thing that feels dated. When whistling tea kettles cause burns and the "woman of today" prefers her index card collection to her cell phone, that's pure nostalgia. It remains to be seen what the third installment has in store for us after the road movie and the neo-noir detective story.

Anna Hantelmann (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy