Slamdance (2022) review: ‘HONEYCOMB’ tackles female complexity in this unusual coming of age debut.

HONEYCOMB

Five small-town girls abandon their mundane lives and move into an abandoned cabin. Growing increasingly isolated, their world becomes filled with imagined rituals and rules but the events of one summer night threaten to abruptly end their age of innocence forever.


Honeycomb feels akin to watching a slumber party on Lord of the Flies terms. The timing of the film’s premiere is perfectly paired with the recent finale of Showtime’s Yellowjackets. It’s got similar energy with its underlying rage, free spirit intentions, and coven-like atmosphere. Each girl selecting a red party dress is not a mistake. The group creates a set of rules that they must obey in order to live in the house. Two rules struck me as most powerful. The “Empty” and “Suitable Revenge”. I’ll let you find out what those entail for yourselves.

It is an interesting commentary on female relationships. The vindictive nature combined with hormones with zero adult supervision is a recipe for disaster. The most insane part of this film is the plausibility of it all. If you’ve ever lived with a large number of girls, you understand. The raw emotion and uninhibited vitriol can be overwhelming. 

The majority of the acting is pretty hammy. There are disaffected or stagey line readings. But, two standout performances come from Destini Stewart as Leader and Henri Gillespi as PJ. Also, make sure you stay through the credits. It’s worth your time. 

There’s a voice here. It feels like the early stages of The Adams family films (The Deeper You Dig & Hellbender), sans Toby and John‘s guidance. I’m eager to see what writer-director Avalon Fast creates next. 


 

The feature debut from 21-year old writer/director Avalon Fast world premiered virtually January 27th, 2022


About Liz Whittemore

Liz grew up in northern Connecticut and was memorizing movie dialogue from Shirley Temple to A Nightmare on Elm Street at a very early age. She will watch just about any film all the way through (no matter how bad) just to prove a point. A loyal New Englander, a lover of Hollywood, and true inhabitant of The Big Apple.

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