Honeyjoon (2025)

-Written by John Cajio.

2025 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!

Honeyjoon is an excellent film, capturing the literal and figurative journey of a young woman and her mother as they escape to the Azores for a few days after suffering a terrible loss. There is plenty of drama, plenty of comedy, and plenty of heart at its center. The occasional stiff performance, especially from the titular lead, holds the film back from reaching truly dizzying heights. 

June (Ayden Mayeri) is an American woman from a Kurdish background. She’s also single, smoking hot, and incredibly horny. She constantly wears bikinis and other revealing clothing. She shamelessly and awkwardly flirts with every attractive guy she encounters, from the hotel clerks to the philosophical surfer tour guide, João (José Condessa), about whom she has a raucously hilarious sex dream about. Meanwhile, her mother Lela (Amira Casar) is a far more modest woman who escaped the Iranian Revolution of 1979, who keeps close tabs on the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement in her homeland to June’s constant annoyance, and who constantly farts in her sleep (much to June’s constant disgust). Somehow, they have to find a way to get along and navigate the real reasons they are in the Azores together in the first place.

Writer-Director Lilian T. Mehrel strikes a strong balance between the drama and the comedy in Honeyjoon. Throughout the film, Lela regularly asks her daughter for help with a variety of fairly intimate acts—acts which June regularly deflects offering up rationalizations for why she either can’t do them or doesn’t need to do them. These small dramatic moments ramp up until June finally acquiesces and commits to one small but not insignificant act. June is immediately rewarded with a fart in the face. And it’s hilarious as hell. 

Of course, much of the bickering between June and Lela has much to do with the real reason for their presence in the Azores, and the ways that each woman comes to terms with it. I won’t spoil it, but I will say that it is handled quite well. The two women arrive in the Azores with a purpose but are at pretty significant odds on how to accomplish the task and reconcile their feelings on the matter. The maze they navigate is mired in foreign politics, acknowledgements of mortality, the pain of long goodbyes, embracing womanhood, and much more. And it’s all handled pretty deftly at the end of the day by the cast and crew. 

The technical aspects of the film are pretty fantastic. The establishing shots are gorgeous. The wide shots, frequently just featuring June and Lela, highlight the gulf between the characters. Close-ups are used to great effect to remind us of the humanity of the women. The music doesn’t hinder and adequately supports the story. The acting is generally pretty great, especially from Casar. I did find that Mayeri’s performance was occasionally too stiff or wooden. It wasn’t often, but it was a distraction when it occurred.

Featuring strong creatives and strong technicals, Honeyjoon takes the viewer on a journey of two women that is as touching as it is humorous. It should also be noted that the advanced screener I was provided for this review contained a caveat stating that it would contain small visual glitches. Indeed it did, but it did not hamper my overall enjoyment of the film, and I am hopeful, based on the description provided to me, that those visual glitches would not be present during its Tribeca debut. Honeyjoon does not suck.

Written & Directed by Lilian T. Mehrel.

Starring Ayden Mayeri, Amira Casar, José Condessa, etc.

8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING (IT DOES NOT SUCK)