'Honey Bunch' Review: Jason Isaacs Leads an Unsettling, Genre-Bending Film That Honors Horror Classics

2 weeks ago 12

Published Feb 13, 2026, 3:18 PM EST

Jasneet Singh is a writer who finally has a platform to indulge in long rants about small moments on TV and film in overwhelming detail. With a literature background, she is drawn to the narrative aspect of cinema and will happily rave about her favorite characters. She is also waiting for the Ranger's Apprentice novels to be adapted... but the cycle of hope and disappointment every two years is getting too painful to bear.

"Would you still love me if I were a worm?" Reaching its peak in 2023, this TikTok trend was a silly litmus test of unconditional love for couples, but let's actually unpack it briefly. There's an implied transition from human to worm, a form of life that is completely vulnerable in the palm of somebody's hand, speaking to a huge loss in bodily autonomy. On the flip side, dating a worm requires sacrifice, dedication, and perhaps a touch of twisted logic. Also, with some exceptions, women usually ask the question in their heterosexual relationships in these videos, setting up gender roles and power imbalances in this imaginary scenario. Now, if you take all these thoughts and wrap them in a 1970s Gothic horror patina, then you get the utterly mesmerizing Honey Bunch.

The genre-bending film did its rounds on the festival circuit and will soon find its home on Shudder, where it may just change the way you view relationships. It is co-directors Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli's second project together, and if you've watched their debut feature, Violation, you'll recognize their ability to combine an effervescent sheen with profound discomfort in Honey Bunch. Unlike Violation, which was built on female rage, Honey Bunch explores both sides of the story while keeping us off-kilter with dark, absurd comedy and burgeoning dread. It's a curious watch, but one met with spine-tingling admiration by the end.

What Is 'Honey Bunch' About?

Diane (Grace Glowicki) and Homer (Ben Petrie) are a married couple who arrive at a wellness center specializing in trauma care deep in the woods. After a car accident, Diane deals with chronic pain and memory loss, causing underlying tension in a seemingly caring relationship. At the center, which is really a beautiful mansion with Gothic architecture, the head of care, Farah (Kate Dickie), begins the process of psychiatric medication and physical therapy. Soon thereafter, the couple is joined by a father (Jason Isaacs) who is seeking care for his recently injured daughter (India Brown). The film initially progresses in the vein of A Cure for Wellness, where Diane stumbles through the winding hallways and gardens in a paranoid stupor, trying to make sense of the strange occurrences around the place.

'Honey Bunch' Pulls You In With Horror References, Genre-Bending Storytelling, and Dark Humor

Ben Petrie as Homer carrying Grace Glowicki as Diane on the beach in Honey Bunch.

Honey Bunch is a compelling mix of candor and mystery, much of this stemming from its references. As mentioned, the beginning of the film knowingly follows the familiar beats of A Cure for Wellness, where Honey Bunch capitalizes on the audience's instinctive distrust of medical professionals and institutions. There's also the Gothic foundation of a woman trapped in a mansion, where her memory loss and potential hallucinations double as a supernatural atmosphere, rendering Diane an unreliable narrator. The characters also draw parallels to The Stepford Wives, Frankenstein, and Rebecca, each unearthing an aching truth about the nature of commitment while also playing with viewers' expectations of the ending. With it, Honey Bunch cleverly pays tribute to its clear inspirations before playing the ace up its sleeve, one that is delightfully absurd.

However, in its pursuit of paying homage to others, the film can sometimes get lost in little tangents, especially during the first half. While a genre fan will appreciate the nuggets of reference and their implications, for the average viewer, these segues can disrupt the film's pacing. It is both mind and genre-bending in its storytelling, but has an intentional enough approach that you'll still be able to keep up with the narrative and rhetoric. That, strangely enough, does still apply to the ending, which is bold, confident, and a tad berserk — but that will come as no surprise for a film that so languidly mentions prolapsed anuses or shifts into a nightmare with a flick of the wrist.

Meanwhile, the film's atmosphere is pure visual and auditory quicksand. Combined with the '70s palette is a dreamlike quality and humming soundtrack that seeps into your bones, as if the viewer is sinking further into the increasing despair of the wellness center. Amid the atmospheric creepiness are frequent instances of dark and wry humor. They work well with the strange central couple, where the dialogue echoes the likes of "Would you still love me if I were a worm?" but with an almost sinister cutting edge. It's in the comedy where most of the film's commentary on commitment is derived, as the discomfort of pondering on the realities of unconditional love is evasively laughed off.

'Honey Bunch' Dissects the Reality of Commitment and Relationships

As far as horror goes, Honey Bunch excels in its depiction of the loss of mental and bodily autonomy when the idea of commitment is taken too far. Much of this can be attributed to Glowicki's performance, who boasts her range in this film. As Diane psychologically spirals with each revelation, Glowicki's intensity and presence become increasingly powerful. She taps into female rage, despair, and hopelessness, before the story twists into something more delicate and admittedly outrageous. Her on-screen chemistry with Petrie, however, develops at a slow-burning pace before it is believable enough to make the ending work.

It would be remiss not to mention the performances of Isaacs and Brown, who play the father-daughter dynamic with organic ease. Isaacs plays the overly enthusiastic dad who refuses to let his daughter give up, even when blood pours out of her ear during a workout — it's progress, you see. On the other hand, Brown plays the overachieving daughter who's determined to make her demanding father proud, regardless of the cost. Their parallel story ends on a more grounded note than Diane and Homer's, but it is a subtle reminder that commitment doesn't only pertain to romance, while also exploring alternate consequences.

Honey Bunch is certainly an ambitious project for its investigation into commitment and bodily autonomy through the subversion of horror classics and Gothic staples. While it may not be for everyone, it is a love letter to and for genre fans, demanding the same kind of twisted, unconditional love it plays around with.

Honey Bunch is now available to stream on Shudder in the U.S.

Release Date January 23, 2026

Runtime 114 minutes

Director Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer

Writers Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli

Producers Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Rebecca Yeboah

Cast

Pros & Cons

Honey Bunch pays homage to the classics in clever ways that play with our expectations.
The visual and sound design immerse you further into the discomfort of the world as time goes on.
Glowicki delivers a versatile and compelling performance, alongside Petrie and Isaacs.