Horror/Thriller/Drama • 14A • 113 Minutes • 2025
I’m sure you know that couple that has to do everything together. They have to hold hands like they’re glued together, even if they’re sitting down on the couch next to each other; or they have to check every thirty minutes to make sure no one died in a horrific car accident; or even make a single decision without their partner’s input. Recommending Honey Bunch to this couple might be a good idea. The codependency in this film is taken to the forefront of what a toxic relationship can be, not one of violence, but one that examines the toxic trait of loving someone too much.
Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer, the writing/directing couple behind Honey Bunch, tell the story of a married couple, Diana (Grace Glowicki) and Homer (Ben Petrie), who take Diana to an experimental treatment facility after she begins suffering from memory loss following an accident. As Diana goes through some A Clockwork Orange-style therapy, she begins to become suspicious of the facility and her husband’s role in the procedures.
What’s great about what this film explores is the questions that arise at the end of the third act (don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything here). What’s apparent is the directing and writing duo wanted to have some fun while exploring their own love for each other and where the line sits between an altruistic good deed and pure madness, (hey, love blurs many lines in life; who am I to say differently.) The obsessive nature of the film points out some critical aspects of relationships and love that have only been explored through nihilistic and a lovers-on-the-run genre that leave bodybag after bodybag in its wake. What Honey Bunch explores is a softer yet no less terrifying look at a toxic relationship, which, ironically, is a great film for any date night.
Set in the 1970s, the cinematography mirrors the time period with long zooms and an overly golden-tungsten look that can sometimes feel like an artificial memory of what the 1970s looked and felt like. It teeters the line between homage and unrealistic with an oversaturated yellow tint that overlays the film like you’re wearing gold-tinted Rayban sunglasses that you just want to take off. However, while this may cover close to 30% of the film, there are some beautiful standout shots that are pulled back and toned down with beautifully composed shots and camera movements to make the world feel alive and situated in the 1970s.
Keeping in line with the 1970s setting, the practical makeup perfected in the 70s and 80s by the likes of makeup effects artists like Rob Bottin (The Thing and Robocop) is utilized by a similarly practical approach by the makeup effects team for Honey Bunch. What Rex Baluyot, Sophie J. Cameron, François Dagenais, Niamh McCann, Monica Pavez, and Tenille Shockey created throughout the film, with no help from CGI, was a grotesque and impressive use of makeup effects that will make you squirm in your seat and gush over an art form that is too seldom used these days.
What I love about indie films is the hard work actors and actresses put into their work, and it’s no different here with Grace Glowicki’s performance as Diana, who stands out with a remarkable amount of sides to her character. From timidity to anger and from violent to a near childlike temperament, Glowicki explores it all over the 113-minute runtime. On the other hand, some of the weaker aspects from the film can be deduced from a stilted performance at times from Ben Petrie, not finding the right tone in his voice to convey the emotional or desperation of the scene, especially when toe to toe with Glowicki who outshines most of the other on-screen actors with a larger demand to communicate expression and emotion with lots of variety.
Honey Bunch is a film with many surprises around its sharp corners. With a strong performance from Grace Glowicki and the film’s themes of obsessive and toxic relationships, the film lands on its feet by the end, which makes me feel content in discovering and recommending this horror/thriller indie gem.
Honey Bunch is nominated for eight Canadian Screen Awards.
Where to Watch
Honey Bunch was viewed on Crave
Also worth checking: CBC Gem (often carries Canadian titles not listed elsewhere).
about the author
Merrick Gajdics is founder, publisher and editor of The Canadian Film Reviewer.