Reviews: Honeydew (2020) Movie Review
Genres: Horror
Subgenres: Psychological, Survival, Thriller, Isolation, Road Trip, Single Moms, Southern Gothic, Tourists, Wilderness
Horror fans searching for a breakdown of Honeydew (2020) will find our review covers the plot, themes, and the shocking ending everyone talks about.
Honeydew (2020) is an unsettling, slow-burn horror film that follows a young couple, Sam (Sawyer Spielberg) and Rylie (Malin Barr), as they embark on a road trip to research a strange agricultural disease affecting crops. When their car breaks down in rural New England, they seek shelter at the home of an eerie, overly hospitable woman named Karen (Barbara Kingsley) and her oddly silent son, Gunni (Jamie Bradley). What begins as an overnight stay quickly unravels into a surreal, grotesque nightmare that traps the couple in a twisted world of bodily horror, isolation, and psychotic hospitality.
Honeydew (2020) – A Disturbing, Nightmarish Descent into Madness
Plot, Themes, and Character Development
The film explores themes of food obsession, body horror, and psychological deterioration, presenting a Lynchian, hallucinatory experience that grows increasingly bizarre as reality distorts. The unnerving tone is amplified by the couple’s fractured relationship, with Sam’s selfish behavior and Rylie’s growing unease adding to the tension.
Acting and Cinematography
Sawyer Spielberg (yes, son of Steven Spielberg) makes his feature film debut with a solid performance, though his character’s lack of likability makes it difficult to fully invest in his fate. Malin Barr as Rylie is more engaging, delivering a convincing portrayal of growing paranoia and dread. However, it’s Barbara Kingsley’s chilling performance as Karen that steals the show. She embodies the perfect mix of eerie kindness and quiet menace, making even the most mundane moments feel deeply unsettling.
Visually, Honeydew leans into nightmarish surrealism, utilizing extreme close-ups, disorienting camera angles, and strange lighting to create a dreamlike unease. Director Devereux Milburn embraces an offbeat, almost hypnotic approach that makes the film feel like a fever dream, drawing comparisons to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Witch (2015) in its depiction of rural horror and isolation. The unconventional, dissonant sound design further contributes to its claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing atmosphere.
Directing Style, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Milburn’s direction is highly stylized, favoring atmosphere and tension over conventional storytelling. He expertly builds dread, but the film’s abstract nature and slow pacing may be off-putting to viewers expecting a more traditional horror narrative. The use of long, lingering shots and distorted audio cues enhances the film’s sense of dread, but some sequences drag on too long without clear payoff.
Strengths:
- Atmospheric Horror – The film excels in creating unease, using haunting cinematography and eerie sound design.
- Unsettling Performances – Barbara Kingsley’s chilling performance as Karen is deeply disturbing.
- Surreal and Distinctive – The film’s dreamlike, nightmarish approach stands out from typical horror tropes.
Weaknesses:
- Slow-Burn Pacing – The film takes a long time to get moving, which may test viewers’ patience.
- Unclear Narrative Direction – The bizarre structure and abstract storytelling may leave audiences confused rather than engaged.
- Unlikable Protagonists – Sam, in particular, is difficult to root for, making his fate less impactful.
Final Verdict & Score: 5/10
Honeydew is a visually and aurally unsettling experience, blending slow-burn horror, grotesque imagery, and psychological tension into a deeply disturbing film. However, its deliberately offbeat pacing, abstract narrative, and unsympathetic characters prevent it from reaching its full potential.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Honeydew Rating Scores
- Our Score: 5/10
- Overall Score: 4.98/10
- IMDB: 4.4/10
- MetaCritic: 4.0/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 6.5/10
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