A Taste of Honey

Right now you can watch A Taste of Honey in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and YouTube TV — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. With 118 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Rita Tushingham leads a cast that never overplays its hand. Put it on tonight on HBO Max Amazon Channel and see for yourself.

A Taste of Honey arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Character-driven storytelling at its most effective — A Taste of Honey earns every emotional beat it goes for. While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and abandoned. When her mother remarries, Jo's only support becomes her friend Geoffrey, a homosexual. The performances from Rita Tushingham and Murray Melvin give it more weight than the premise alone would suggest. A Taste of Honey came out in 1961. A Taste of Honey resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with A Taste of Honey. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Rita Tushingham's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

A Taste of Honey was released in 1961, directed by Tony Richardson. The full 100-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.