An exhausted long distance truck driver is met with an insistent young woman as she stops for the night. The young woman tells her she has been kidnapped and that someone is after her. As they piece together the story leading to this moment, the two of them find themselves under attack.
Written by Todd Rawiszer and Max Strand with Strand directing, Goodbye Honey is a tight thriller about how two women, stranger to one another, must learn to trust each other to survive the night. The tension that the script and direction build here is palpable, making their plight feel very present and realistic. There are a few things here and there that cut that tension, but overall, this is the kind of film where the stress and dread builds up for the viewer with the characters and it doesn’t get much in terms of relief. Maybe a scene here and there helps relieve the dread, but overall there isn’t humor in this like many other films have done to try and break the mood a bit and not make it so heavy. Heavy is a goal here, it’s a mood, and it works. The film manages to built a lot of tension, even in moments when the villain is shown and then proceeds to come off a bit too “extra”.
The cast for Goodbye Honey are the reason why this film works. Pamela Jayne Morgan and Peyton Michelle Edwards, who play Dawn the truck driver and Allison the kidnapping victim respectively, work great together. There is something to their chemistry that brings out the best in both and they each end up giving strong performances that stand great on their own and fantastic together. Their work shows vulnerability, strength, and care. They both are fantastic to watch and their fear comes through the screen as the film advances. They very easily sell that they are in danger and that they will do what is needed to get themselves out of danger.
As with a lot of lower budget films, most of the people working behind the scenes do more than one job. Writer Todd Rawiszer also serves as cinematographer here and his work is great on that front as well as the writing. The film has a look that is distinct and condusive to the tension and dread building. The majority of the scenes are quite dark here, but with Rawiszer’s work, the images are never too dark for the viewer to be able to see what is going on clearly and they always show exactly what they need to and hide what doesn’t need to be revealed yet. The film’s look works in a way that is particular to the story in that it is almost an extra character and it works really well with what is going on.
Goodbye Honey is a tense thriller-type film with definite horror elements that works because of all those involved giving their all as well as being super talented. Morgan and Edwards give fantastic performances and the cinematography is beautiful while dark. This is the kind of film that comes from the indie scene from time to time that should not be below anyone’s radar.