By DEIRDRE CRIMMINS
Starring Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie and Jason Isaacs
Written and directed by Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Elevation Pictures/Shudder
Memory loss carries its own horrors. The afflicted must turn to those around them for the context of their experiences, requiring total trust, and, frightfully, they can no longer trust themselves. HONEY BUNCH uses this trauma as a jumping-off point for an atmospheric, impeccably acted horror twister with love at its core.
HONEY BUNCH is the sophomore feature film from the creative duo of Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer. Their previous film, Violation, was a more grounded but equally shocking film about misplaced loyalty and family dynamics. HONEY BUNCH continues that thread, but on a wildly different path.
Grace Glowicki stars as Diana, a young wife who is just coming out of a coma. Her loving husband, Homer (Ben Petrie), takes her to an experimental memory clinic that promises to restore her memories so that she may return to her life just as it was before the accident. Genre cornerstones Kate Dickie and Julian Richings portray Farah and Delwyn, who run the clinic, with Farah as the primary administrator of the unusual treatments.
HONEY BUNCH is set in what appears to be the late 1970s or the very early 1980s. Visually, the film makes no effort to shy away from the rich earth tones of the time and the soft, warm light we are accustomed to seeing as a signifier of the era. The film’s score is also nostalgically reminiscent of that time. Though that music is a strong presence, it is never a distraction from all that is happening on screen.
Diana’s treatment seems to consist of repeatedly putting her bare feet on broken safety glass and sitting in front of strobe lights, and later, awkwardly exercising with a strange contraption that eliminates any potential for graceful movement. When another patient (India Brown) and her father (Jason Isaacs) arrive, Diana is relieved to no longer be alone in these sessions. All of this is well and good (or as well and good as experimental medical treatment can be), but there is consistently something amiss in the clinic. Diana sees things. Specifically, she catches a woman out of the corner of her eye, who is not there when she inspects further.
The clinic, located in a sprawling Victorian mansion, does nothing to calm her suspicions of potential shenanigans. As Homer’s strange behavior and the odd atmosphere accumulate to a critical level, Diana finally breaks. Something is wrong here. Soon, Diana discovers the terrifying reason for her uneasy reaction to the clinic.
Though the threats are very real and sanity is on the line, HONEY BUNCH is ultimately committed to treating every character with integrity and empathy. Crafting a horror film that both scares and uplifts is a singular proposition, and Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer pull it off deftly.
Much of the film rests on Glowicki’s performance, and she rises to the demand with a natural and charming performance. Her own film, Dead Lover, showcases her creativity and wicked sense of humor as an actor and a filmmaker in her own right. As Diana in HONEY BUNCH, Glowicki plays a more familiar character with the same level of commitment. Glowicki is a force.
HONEY BUNCH twists its way through mystery, terror, body horror, and love with an affection for humanity and a healthy distrust of medicine. It is the exact kind of film that rewards close attention and multiple viewings.
