Slamdance 2022 Film Festival – Get whisked away to an idyllic woodland nourished by youth and futile rebellion against angst in director/co-writer Avalon Fast’s feature directorial debut, Honeycomb. I was immediately struck by the film’s shot-on-video look, in fact, the film oscillated between feeling like a feature film and somewhat of a found footage movie complete with interview monologues that seem to break the fourth wall. Honeycomb is not just a movie, it is an experience, as the audience is treated to an artful mix of Lord of the Flies level of tension and themes, indie rock concerts, and stunning shots of nature — both flora and human nature.

At first glance, Honeycomb may seem rough around the edges. Its edginess is intuitive, however, as jump-cut editing, whether intentional or not, captured the moment-to-moment thought processes of the film’s adolescents, and the initially mundane existence that is their teen years. The film’s characters lament about their boredom, which is the ultimate sin, in their eyes, but as the film’s experimental society progresses, yet more sins are committed, as their innocent nature is lost to strict adherence to the rules of their own making. In Honeycomb, idle hands are certainly the devil’s workshop, as Fast uses her coven of characters to address themes of failing utopias, the savage nature of humans, the false unity that is civilization (or in this case, a clique), and one of the most jarring life stages of all –the loss of innocence.

Unchallenged and unhappy with their boyfriends, their parents, and just life and circumstances in general, five girlfriends — Millie (Rowan Wales), Willow (Sophie Bawks-Smith), Jules (Jillian Frank), Leader (Destini Stewart), Vicky (Mari Geraghty) — run away from their town to an abandoned cabin in the woods. In search of a life more special, they make up their own rules for their new community, the most important being a rule akin to ‘an eye for an eye’. They allow their friends to visit as long as they are blindfolded beforehand, but when Millie grows romantic feelings for Leader’s boyfriend, the friends agree to put their rule into action, feeding Leader’s need for revenge as punishment.

I loved the story told in Honeycomb, screenwriter Avalon Fast proved great talent for creating smart and unique characters, but even more so, showed off an eye for framing picture-perfect shots that were both maniacally violent but dreamy. As aforementioned, the smart dialogue was markedly mature and existentially insightful, often sounding more like conversations had in a stage play or fine literature than a teen summer film. I am not saying, at all, that teens are not smart, in fact, on the contrary, however, the complaints and realizations surmised in Honeycomb felt more out of the mouths of women of a certain age rather than out of the mouths of babes.

This is not necessarily a gripe, more of a noticeable observation, and this kind of dialogue was needed in a film that addresses such resonant themes. If I did have one gripe, it would just be the unanswered questions where I had to suspend logic without the gaps being filled in, mainly, who was paying for the electricity at this abandoned cabin in the woods and where did Leader get replacement glasses in the woods? But, I don’t mind a few leaps in exchange for the artistic feast I helped myself to with Honeycomb.

I had hoped that this coven would create the utopia it set out to live in, but as often is the case of human experiments of different civilizations, it descended into a violent dystopia with black and white methods of civil processes. Honeycomb is far and away from the other low-budget Canadian horror films I have seen, typically of the Canuxploitation kind. Instead, Honeycomb is a bit more high-brow, especially for teen horror, and it is also unexpectedly thought-provoking, as the characters explore trading one oppressive existence for one that is arguably even more flawed, maintaining the same jealous and vengeful nature found in the society that they left and revealing that they only had fickle alliances rather than true unity.

Honeycomb was, aesthetically, some kind of beautiful nightmare, that sometimes went in and out of focus and drifted into hazy, drug-fueled parties. The musical score with discordant tones and high-pitched violins is always a good combo for establishing atmospheres of impending dangers, and the musical concert breaks were also welcome, with the garage band sound adding to the indie feel of the movie. Avalon Fast’s eye is the main star of this movie though, as it cannot be understated how beautiful the shots were, and their placement in the editing gave many instances of foreshadowing that also lent itself to the atmosphere of impending doom.

7 Out of 10