Any movie from a Coen brother used to be required viewing, but Ethan Coen‘s underrated 2024 gem doesn’t get the attention it deserves despite having a 2025 spiritual sequel. Bursting on the scene in 1984 with Blood Simple, the Coens quickly became the most interesting new voices in film with output that ranged from irreverent to dark.
That trend continued into the ’90s and 2000s, with works like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country for Old Men cementing them as bona fide artists. While they haven’t struck gold with each movie, the duo has 13 Academy Award nominations between them. In recent years, Joel and Ethan have begun working separately, crafting their own directorial visions.
Joel Coen’s solo directorial debut came with 2021’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, and the reimagining of Shakespeare’s play earned him a ton of critical praise. While Joel has focused on drama since breaking away, Ethan’s path has been a bit different. Continuing the Coens’ signature sense of humor, Ethan’s solo feature debut divided critics and flew under the radar.
Drive-Away Dolls Might’ve Been 2024’s Most Underrated Movie
If Joel has been very serious since breaking away from his brother, Ethan has opted to turn toward pure comedy. His 2024 film Drive-Away Dolls is stuffed to the brim with the quirky humor that made the Coens’ work so memorable. Furthermore, it is a love letter to ’70s B-movies and classic sex comedies.
Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan play a duo of friends who embark on a sapphic road trip that takes a weird turn. It quickly devolves into farcical black humor that’s reminiscent of classic Coen brothers movies, but critics were less than impressed and it underperformed. However, Drive-Away Dolls is far better than its 64% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Drive-Away Dolls was a box office bomb, grossing only $7.9 million against a reported budget of $20 million (via Box Office Mojo).
Many negative reviews miss the point that Drive-Away Dolls isn’t taking itself too seriously. It hilariously subverts sex comedy tropes, and screenwriter Tricia Cooke pulls from her experience as a queer person to add a layer of authenticity. It’s not a stretch to say the movie is wildly underrated, and may even become a cult classic in the future.
How Drive-Away Dolls Connects To 2025’s Honey Don’t!
Despite the box office disappointment of Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan Coen’s unofficial trilogy forged on with the release of Honey Don’t! in 2025. It stands as a sequel in spirit only because it also stars Margaret Qualley, though she plays an entirely different character. Honey Don’t! is a send-up to hard-boiled detective stories, but with a lesbian twist.
While Drive-Away Dolls was quirky and fun, Honey Don’t! is surprisingly intense, and hearkens back to the Coens’ darker films like Miller’s Crossing. Sadly, Ethan Coen‘s second opus has gotten even worse reviews, but its lasting legacy remains to be seen. Because his Lesbian B-movie trilogy is only loosely connected, each installment can stand on its own.
Drive-Away Dolls
5/10
- Release Date
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February 23, 2024
- Director
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Ethan Coen
- Writers
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Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke
