Welcome back to another review from the 2025 San Diego Asian Film Festival! The next film I’m reviewing just so happens to be a feature directorial debut, which makes it all the more impressive. Get ready for beautiful landscapes and a whirlwind of emotions in… Honeyjoon (2025).
Title: Honeyjoon
Director: Lillian T. Mehrel
Premiered: June 7, 2025 (Tribeca Film Festival – United States)
Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes
Lela (Amira Casar) and her daughter, June (Ayden Mayeri), are on holiday in The Azores for a remembrance weekend to honor the one-year anniversary of the passing of Lela’s husband and June’s father. He had made a promise to take them there before unfortunately succumbing to cancer.
They have hopes of bonding and mourning together, but the sight of honeymooners around them quickly eliminates that hope. That’s okay though, Lela and June are determined to make the best of the trip in their own ways, even if it causes friction between them.
For Lela, the key just happens to be doomscrolling on her phone. Keeping up to date on the repressive regime back in her home country of Iran and how they continue to strip away at women’s rights. Meanwhile, for June, it’s flirting with the front desk clerk and their private tour guide, João (José Condessa). She’s determined to spice up her romantic life while on holiday.
But at the end of the day, will Lela and June be able to find common ground between them?
One thing is for sure, after watching Honeyjoon (2025), Lilian T. Mehrel is now on my radar as a director and a writer.
For her feature directorial debut to be a drama that so delicately mixes women’s rights, depression, grief, generational and cultural differences, all with a sprinkle of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, is no small feat. There’s never a moment where any one topic feels too heavy-handed and to top it off, she’s also able to sprinkle in enough humor throughout to keep things somewhat light.
You can have the best script in the world but you still need the actors to bring it to life. And my goodness do both Amira Casar and Ayden Mayeri deliver with some absolutely incredible chemistry between them. Whether it was June correcting how Lela words a particular phrase or Lela going full mom-mode on June, every interaction between them almost dares you to look away.
If, for whatever reason, you are not drawn in by the layered story, watch Honeyjoon (2025) simply for the scenery. The Azores are breathtakingly beautiful and every single exterior shot of this film is an absolute feast for the eyes.
Hopefully, Honeyjoon (2025) will find its way onto digital PVOD soon as it deserves as wide an audience as possible.