A head trauma patient uncovers strange secrets in her convalescent home in writer-director pair Dusty Mancinelli & Madeleine Sims-Fewer’s twisty and strange Honey Bunch, now streaming on Shudder.
I’ve often said some of the best, deeper horror uses an already terrifying, real-life, grounded situation and adds a supernatural or otherwise out-of-the-ordinary level, giving something more. This usually keeps the film from being too bleak and close (usually… look at your Heriditary) and gives the audience something more to latch onto. We can see this in films like The Taking of Deborah Logan and Don’t Look Now. For Honey Bunch, Diana is a woman in the 1970s recovering from memory loss after an accident. She and her husband try out a new treatment at an isolated home with odd methods. That, in and of itself, is a hellish ordeal of uncertainties and confusion. Still, it’s not long before questions arise over the treatment, what might be happening out of the ordinary, and who is lying about what and just what one will do for those they love. Thus is the crux of Violation’s Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer’s Honey Bunch, starring Grace Growicki and Ben Petrie.
One can see the familiar in a limited patient facility, deep into the unknowable woods, and Diana, played by Growicki, begins to see things. Are they real, or her imagination? Other versions of her in the halls, peeked through doorways, or even in the room with her. Often with her husband, so they must be memories. But why do they disturb her so? The off-putting is continued with a father and daughter arriving. Yes, the disturbing imagery questioning of the truth is expected – that’s the sort of movie it is. But the hows and whys behind the oddity, the emotional connection among the characters, and the wonderful visual styles make Honey Bunch stand out as an excellent character piece that asks the questions of what we’ll do for the ones we love, what is true commitment, and how do our relationships change when the situation is altered?
I got a little bit of Shirley Jackson from Honey Bunch. The repeated, disconcerting portrait of the home’s founder is akin to much of the art of many editions of her work; which is a style choice from the publisher rather than Jackson but I stand by it since these accurate indicate the atmosphere of her storytelling, and more on brand to the actual film: a woman trying to figure out her husband and what’s going on. Is he keeping her down? Is he lying ot her? How’s her, and anyone’s, sanity? Flashes of Hangasman and the short stories.
Mancinelli & Sims-Fewer imbue the Honey Bunch with a thick atmosphere on 70s production design and gloss the film in a fantastic yellow, hazy palette; a sickly 70s if you will remisent of other heavy atmospheric horror films like Picnic at Hanging Rock. There’s a Wes Anderson vibe, but it’s more off-kilter. The sort where everything feels just a little wrong, yet hard to put a finger on, as Diana explores the deep woods outside and the enclosed, claustrophobic sprawling Victorian mansion, with its own long hallways, locked doors, and secrets. Despite all the horror and uncomfortable nature of the film, Honey Bunch is just as infused with hope and love; a beautifuland purpsoeful dischord within the film. There’s a distinct, knowing positivity to the proceedings that sets an ease. Much of that is based on the chemistry and relationship of our leads.
Husband and wife in the film, Diana and Homer, are husband and wife, Grace Growicki and Ben Petrie, in real life. Growicki and Petrie often make films together. Groweciki co-wrote, directed, and starred in Dead Lover, a favorite of mine at SIFF last year, with Petrie co-writing and also featured. The utterly arthouse horror film was under a “no review” embargo, so I didn’t talk about it then. But it has a release planned in April, seek it out then. In that film, and here, she shows she’s a fully committed performer, if not purposefully a little odd and out-of-sync. So it’s not surprising she has great chemistry with Petrie. I loved how it flowed and changed across the film, not only deepening their relationship with each other and the audience, but reflecting the conversations and silly back-and-forths real couples have. Fun, nearly non-sequiter banter of teases and laughs, harkening to the long shared time together. As this is a film about head trauma, the questions of when and how many of these conversations took place, or at all, create the mystery, enhancing the layers that Homer may not be as truthful and kind as he seems now.
The rest of the cast serves well. Jason Isaacs, as the dad Joseph to India Brown’s Josephina, is the most well-known for the cast, the one to catch the general audience’s eye, and he gives a spirited performance as the father trying hard to make it work and create a treatment foil to Diana and Homer. The center is run by Kate Dickie of The Witch and Game of Thrones, and her husband and former patient Julian Richings, a very well-known and much-appreciated face to modern horror lovers; the pair often give wonderfully odd and eerie performances, and working together, take it to another level.
However, Mancienelli and Sims-Fewer’s Honey Bunch starts to fall under the weight of its twists and reveals, often prolonging itself to nearly two hours. Even so, how it plays and looks his highly appreciated. In many ways its a character study of marriage, love, and commitment as seen through Diana and Homer, and the married actors behind them. A great look and atmosphere sell Honey Bunch to a higher latitude, and the whole is suitably creepy yet loving. Recommended for those who dig a simmering strangeness. Now streaming on Shudder.