A Taste of Honey
A fiercely independent teenager builds an improvised family with a gay friend while poverty, pregnancy, and her domineering mother test their fragile refuge.
Overview
A poignant exploration of unconventional family dynamics and the search for belonging.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- wistful
- bitter
- intimate
- arthouse film night
- british new wave retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's warm, vividly located treatment of working-class relationships and its outstanding performances, while noting uneven rhythm and occasional stylistic self-consciousness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jo and Helen navigate poverty, unstable housing, precarious work, and domestic strain in vividly observed northern English locations.
Jo faces pregnancy, motherhood, housing insecurity, and family conflict while still in her teens.
Jo and Geoffrey create a supportive shared home, with Geoffrey preparing for the baby's arrival and assuming a paternal role.
The central household joins a pregnant working-class teenager with a gay male friend, while Jo's relationship with Black sailor Jimmy crosses racial and social boundaries.
Films like A Taste of Honey, and why
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
shared british kitchen-sink realism, working-class family conflict, and coming-of-age drama
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
shared british new wave social realism, rebellious young protagonists, and austere black-and-white presentation
Victim
shared intimate queer friendship, social marginalization, and emotionally restrained working-class drama
Claudine
shared teenage pregnancy, interracial relationships, and compassionate social-problem drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Tony Richardson
- Release Date
- 1961-10-01
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (118)
Cast
- Rita Tushingham
- Murray Melvin
- Paul Danquah
- Dora Bryan
- Robert Stephens
- Michael Bilton
- Eunice Black
- David Boliver
- Margo Cunningham
- Rosalie Williams
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Taste of Honey about?
- A fiercely independent teenager builds an improvised family with a gay friend while poverty, pregnancy, and her domineering mother test their fragile refuge.
- What is A Taste of Honey like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Taste of Honey as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is A Taste of Honey violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in A Taste of Honey.
- What did critics think of A Taste of Honey?
- Critics broadly praised the film's warm, vividly located treatment of working-class relationships and its outstanding performances, while noting uneven rhythm and occasional stylistic self-consciousness.
- Which films are like A Taste of Honey?
- Films with a similar feel include Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Victim, and Claudine.
- How long is A Taste of Honey?
- A Taste of Honey runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Taste of Honey?
- In United States, A Taste of Honey streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel.
