Honey Don’t

It’s apparently set in the present day, but Honey Don’t feels like it’s been pulled from a time capsule in almost every respect.

That’s intentional, of course, for this pulpy comic thriller from director Ethan Coen, a spiritual sequel of sorts to Drive-Away Dolls, the similarly disposable 2024 romp that likewise was an exercise in style over substance.

The throwback aesthetic in this evocative yet frustratingly fractured tale of murder and mayhem begins with its setting in Bakersfield, a working-class California city of strip malls and rundown structures that feels stuck in the 1970s — captured with amber-hued nostalgia, although not necessary as an affectionate tribute.

Yet it’s the ideal locale for Honey O’Donoghue (Margaret Qualley), a private investigator who wears ruby-red heels, drives a vintage drop-top convertible, cools her office with a window-unit air conditioner, and keeps her contacts in a Rolodex.

Tough-minded Honey also tosses off sardonic one-liners with aplomb, which is a coping mechanism considering the parade of eccentrics and sad sacks who cross her path.

Her primary case involves a suspicious car accident that caused the death of a woman with a troubled personal life and possible ties to a religious cult.

The resulting investigation leads to her crossing paths with a flirtatious homicide cop (Charlie Day) who refuses to believe Honey is a lesbian, as well as a womanizing megachurch pastor (Chris Evans) who clearly has secrets to hide. “I help people,” he says with a straight face. “I see a need and I fill it.”

Honey becomes distracted by her carnal desires, however, leading to a whirlwind romance with a police dispatcher (Aubrey Plaza). Eventually the case hits closer to home, too, after Honey’s teenage niece (Talia Ryder) suddenly disappears.

The noir-infused screenplay by Coen and his wife, editor Tricia Cooke — who also collaborated with Qualley on Drive-Away Dolls — winds up squandering its esteemed cast in a low-stakes story that becomes overwhelmed with quirks at the expense of generating meaningful suspense or intrigue.

For example, the film is overstuffed with periphery characters and extraneous subplots that are never fully fleshed out or resolved. It amounts to some amusing snippets with nothing to tie them together.

There’s plenty of gratuitous sex and violence befitting its genre influences, but despite the best efforts of its protagonist, Honey Don’t doesn’t have a clue.

Rated R, 89 minutes.