After waking from a coma with amnesia and a hobbled leg, Diane (Grace Glowicki) is taken to an experimental treatment centre in the wilderness by her husband, Homer (Ben Petrie). As the unorthodox methods practiced by the head doctor (Kate Dickie) start to unlock memories in Diane, disturbing visions manifest, leading Diane to discover dark truths about her marriage.
The less you know, the better, in Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s follow-up to their debut vengeance thriller Violation (2020), which revealed itself in a similarly patient and deliberate fashion. Genre conventions clash in this poignant profile of a couple in crisis, creating something confounding and unexpected. Partners on-screen and off, Glowicki and Petrie (whose horror comedy Dead Lover also screens at this year’s VIFF) are at the top of their game, grounding the story with their patented brand of humour and natural chemistry. Honey Bunch is a surprising and affecting thriller that asks us the lengths we’d go to for the ones we love.
Supported by
Media Partner
Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Kate Dickie, Jason Isaacs, India Brown
Canada
2025
In English and French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Niv Fichman, Fraser Ash, Kevin Krikst, Ben Petrie, Tenille Shockey, François Dagenais, William Woods, Aram Tertzakian, Nate Bolotin, Maxime Cottray, Todd Brown, Adrian Love, Michael O’Leary, Rupert Preston, Ed Caffrey
Producer
Becky Yeboah, Dusty Mancinelli, Madeline Sims-Fewer
Screenwriter
Madeline Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
Cinematography
Adam Crosby
Editor
Lev Lewis
Production Design
Joshua Howard Turpin
Original Music
Andrea Boccadoro
Madeleine Sims-Fewer & Dusty Mancinelli
Filmography: Violation (2020)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Franz
Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland takes the bull by the horns to craft a Kafka biopic that's Kafkaesque and then some, artfully layering scenes from Kafka's life and works along with ironic present-day footage for a truly surreal counterpoint.
Ravenous
This black comic horror western has a troubled production (no less than three directors) but it's a grisly, atmospheric treat (if cannibalism is your thing). Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle lead the way.
Magnolia
This deeply personal 1999 California opus is ripe for rediscovery. Mapping the emotional traumas of half-a-dozen major characters as they crisscross the San Fernando Valley in search of either recognition or reconciliation, it's PTA's riskiest gamble.
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.