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Stars: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Jason Isaacs
Director: Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Distributor: Vertigo Releasing

“You’re going to get better.”

From directors-writers, Dusty Mancinelli and Madeline Sims-Fewer, comes a thoroughly creepy experience centred around trauma, recovery, and what is right. Honey Bunch is a rare experience; one that is visually and thematically frightening, yet ultimately, somewhat humorous.

Quite simply, Honey Bunch opens in a severely unsettling way. Without giving away too many clues, the opening visuals have a strong suggestion of assisted suicide in some vein. Without any context, the harshness of this visual immediately sets the tone for the forthcoming events in Honey Bunch.

The couple, Homer and Diana (Ben Petrie and Grace Glowicki respectively), arrive at an isolated mansion for experimental trauma therapy – for which the initial injury or origin of her issues are vaguely discussed throughout the feature. Diana’s treatment is prehistoric beyond belief, and without full disclosure of her injury and recovery plan, the visual spectacle of the treatment endured is entirely uncomfortable for viewers of this film. Eternally shrouded in mystery, there is a recurring wonder of: “What actually happened?”

In accompanying Homer and Diana, Jason Isaacs and India Brown also enter the treatment centre as Joseph and Josephina respectively. Father and daughter, coach and athlete, their much more vibrant and exciting existence enhances the tone and ambiance of Honey Bunch with a tad more normality. Additional supporting characters, Farah and Delwyn (Kate Dickie and Julian Richings respectively), who provide slight nurse/housekeeping contributions, continue to establish a more grounded feel to the atmosphere in both the world of the film and the viewpoint of the viewer.

As Diana maintains her treatment, there is an increasing duality in wonder of why she is at that specific trauma recovery centre and what is the significance behind the non-existent presence of the lead doctor, and eerie vibe of previous inhabitants. In parallel, Homer develops as the routinely untrustworthy partner, whose motives are increasingly questioned throughout, and morale status is challenged.

Perhaps one of the more unsettling aspects of Honey Bunch is the treatment centre for which our central characters reside. Remote, seemingly in the middle nowhere, the building is as mysterious as the storyline itself. Even beyond the treatment centre, and into the surrounding woodland, there is a growing and aggressive ambiance that something is just not quite right. A feeling that is both nervous and curious. The internal visuals are both occasionally dark and haunting, whilst the externals in the brightness of day, establish the beauty of hope and freedom.

For the majority of its running time, Honey Bunch is a terrifically atmospheric psychological thriller. During this tenure, the film is indisputably at its best and most intriguing. However, a transition occurs, evolving the film into the realm of the body horror, which both increases humour and diminishes the genre frights from prior. For the viewer, this genre evolution in Honey Bunch is one that is wildly bizarre, even crazy to a degree. With comedic body horror, surrealism is completely let loose leaving all in awe.

Honey Bunch is quite the complex film. Its genre blend is completely daring, even if not to one’s particular taste. Perhaps, the dashes of black comedy prevent the film from being too dark overall. Honey Bunch has the potential to be your new favourite film if there is an admiration for aggressive changes in genre. As a psychological thriller, Honey Bunch is one of the most intriguing films out.