HONEY
A morally uplifting dance drama about choosing community over fame.
Should You Watch It?
HONEY is better than its advertising may suggest. Though the film contains mature elements, its heart is a morally uplifting story about a woman who sets aside career goals to help young people in her neighborhood.
The movie values compassion over fame and fortune. Honey’s commitment to giving children a positive outlet for their energy provides the film’s emotional strength, even when the story and characters feel familiar. The dance sequences also balance a few sexy numbers with wholesome community performances.
You should see HONEY if you are a teenager or adult who can exercise discernment about its content and would welcome an encouraging story about service. Parents of younger children should choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESHoney Daniels is an aspiring hip hop dancer in New York City who works as a bartender and teaches neighborhood youths at her mother’s rundown youth center. When a music video director discovers her talent, Honey’s career begins to rise.
But the children she teaches remain vulnerable to the dangerous streets around them. Honey must decide what matters most as she works to create a lasting place where they can grow.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means HONEY is a good, enjoyable film with clear limitations. Its story and characters are predictable, recalling the heartwarming musicals of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Still, the movie’s compassion gives its familiar material genuine feeling.
The dance numbers are a major strength. Some are sexy, but others are wholesome, including a rousing community performance featuring the children, Honey’s friends, and her students. The results of Honey’s compassion may even bring a tear or two.
The Worldview
HONEY presents a light Christian worldview with solid moral elements. It exalts moral purity, integrity, sacrifice, and using one’s gifts to help children in the community rather than pursuing fame and fortune alone.
The film also strongly rebukes implied drug dealing and portrays Honey’s efforts to give young people a positive outlet for their energy. Its use of an abandoned Christian church for a dance benefit presents the community’s work as something sanctified. The story’s moral center is service: Honey chooses the welfare of vulnerable children even when doing so costs her career goals.
The film is not free of distractions. Some dance numbers are sexy, and the story includes profanity, alcohol use, suggestive clothing, and mature situations. Still, its central conviction—that compassion and sacrifice matter—aligns with the biblical call to look beyond personal interests. “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light Christian worldview with solid moral elements about maintaining your moral purity and integrity and sacrificing to help the children in your community; 16 obscenities and one light profanity; woman slaps man for making a pass and drug dealer threatens young woman; a couple sexual references (nothing heavy) and some light suggestive dancing; no nudity, but some female cleavage, midriffs shown, and girls sometimes wear short skirts or shorts; alcohol use and heroine works part time in a nightclub as a bartender; implied drug dealing is strongly rebuked; and, nothing else objectionable.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Honey must choose between career success and helping neighborhood children. When have you seen someone sacrifice personal goals for another person’s good?
Philippians 2:3–4 · Mark 10:45The film presents moral purity and integrity as important, even when someone else behaves wrongly. What does integrity look like when you are pressured to compromise?
Proverbs 10:9 · 1 Corinthians 6:18Honey gives young people a positive outlet for their energy. What gifts or opportunities could your family use to strengthen your community?
1 Peter 4:10 · Galatians 6:9–10The neighborhood children face the influence of drug dealing. How can adults and older students help younger people choose a better path?
Proverbs 13:20 · Titus 2:3–8The Final Word
HONEY is predictable, but its compassion, wholesome community spirit, and moral purpose give it real value. For teenagers and adults who can exercise discernment about the mature content, this is WORTH THE TRIP — TEENS AND ADULTS.
