Honeydew
An eerie , yet familiar background of a couple journeying into the core out - out rural cavern of the Dust Bowl , flank by shadow that dance in the darkness . When night falls , there are encounters with characters that stir a intuitive horse sense of disquiet , the kind that suggest at a grisly and inevitable end to the foresightful Nox . Such atmospheres of dread make one think of films likeThe Texas Chainsaw MassacreandDeliverance , as these tropes have emerged as staples in the horror genre , having been over - used to the point in time of exhaustion . This anxiousness of influence hangs like a non-white shroud over Devereux Milburn’sHoneydew , which chronicle a tale as sure-enough as time , albeit instinct with discordant sound design and needlessly inserted split screens . Honeydewfeels derivative from kickoff to finish , its arthouse elements lend an aura of inauthenticity to an already - lackluster backwoods nightmare .
Honeydewcements its stylistic preferences right from its opening frame of reference , which attempt to weave cautiously craft optical cues into a hallucinatory fabric of atmospheric threat . There ’s a vintage cassette player , a child devour steak and bollock while debating the nature of love with spiritual zeal , and an unsettling , veiled old woman at a funeral . These factor manage to cede an atmospheric sharpness to the film ’s orifice bit , which then pivots to twosome Sam ( Sawyer Spielberg ) and Rylie ( Malin Barr ) , who seem to divvy up a cursory relationship from the get - go . While Sam obsessively recite line from a script in a gas station toilet , Rylie watches videos about the degradation of wheat crops due to an Claviceps purpurea - eccentric fungus in the domain they are currently visiting , as she is a Ph.D. student pursuing flora . Things inevitably go awry when the span is run off their campsite by local Fannie Farmer Eulis ( Stephen D’Ambrose ) and a flat car battery force them to look for assist at the nearest homestead .
The joyless couple make themselves comfortable until help arrives , which is promise by Karen ( Barbara Kingsley ) , the apparently sweet , older owner of the desolate farmhouse . Despite emitting an aura of affectionate hospitality , a variety of sinister menace tarry beneath Karen ’s every move , even when she is seen broil oat - patter bread and sizzle meaty steaks with chop green bean . Sam is the first to succumb to the lull of the space , which is marked by a video set that play old Popeye and Betty Boop animated cartoon , and the presence of a mute , bound military personnel named Gunni ( Jamie Bradley ) , who seems to be Karen ’s son . Food plays a seminal role in the entrapment of Sam and Rylie , wherein the former is on a restricted , core - devoid dieting due to his profession , and the latter follows a vegan life style .
However , these dietary preference are abandoned in an almost - feral manner over the musical passage of prison term spent inside the homestead , with Sam ravenously gorging on Karen ’s steak dinner during a late - Nox slip to the fridge , and Rylie devouring cupcake in the center of the Nox . While Milburn manages to create a tangible amount of atmospherical physical body - up , the levelheaded design does picayune to deepen anxiety , as it starts feel cold after a while . The film ’s cardinal characters play in ways totally remove from the kingdom of practicality , such as when Sam repeatedly ignores the telltale signboard of Karen ’s miss social cues and vacant stare , along with Gunni ’s increasingly anxious doings , instinct with croaky groan and concern - fueled capture .
aside from this , Sam and Rylie ’s inability to look out for one another in the face of danger clear them an prosperous target for the film ’s opposer , as they seem to have utterly no regard for one another even when stranded amidst strange water . A perplexing cameo by Lena Dunham as the mute , amputate Delilah might beHoneydew ’s only ingredient of surprisal , as the rest of the plot encounter out in ways expected of an atmospheric repulsion - slasher with gore and cannibalism .
As per performances , Kingsley is specially sinister as the deranged , vacant - eyed Karen , as she is able to infuse an appearance of motherly warmth with a tangible sense of unease . Spielberg and Barr act their respective parts fairly well , while Bradley manages to evoke a considerable around of sympathy for the everlastingly trapped , tortured reference of Gunni . Despite these factor , Honeydewfails to overshadow its hackneyed figure and cinematic influence , which is exacerbated by the fact that it choose to end in a way that is wildly predictable in term of genre plotlines . All in all , Honeydewrelies too heavily upon its inspirational predecessors , and its knotty stylistic choices are not nearly enough to mask the stark lack of narrative depth and character reference worth root for .
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Honeydewwill be uncommitted on digital / VOD on April 13 , 2021 , good manners of Dark Star Pictures . The film is 106 minute long and is not blackleg .
Sam (Sawyer Spielberg) and Rylie (Malin Barr) in Honeydew
Karen (Barbara Kingsley), Eulis (Stephen D' Ambrose), and Gunni (Jamie Bradley) in Honeydew
