Set against the sun-drenched paradise of the Azores, Honeyjoon follows June (Ayden Mayeri) and her Persian-Kurdish mother, Lela (Amira Casar), on a trip meant to honor the memory of their late father and husband–though each has a very different idea of what healing looks like. Surrounded by honeymooners, June seeks to rediscover her joy after quitting medical school, while Lela clings to her grief, determined to make sense of the loss that still shadows them both.

When a disarmingly philosophical tour guide (José Condessa) enters the picture, their carefully drawn boundaries begin to blur. Between moonlit swims, cultural clashes, and spirited debates about love, identity, and Woman, Life, Freedom, mother and daughter are forced to face what they’ve been avoiding: themselves and each other.

The feature debut of writer-director Lilian T. Mehrel, Honeyjoon blends humor with emotional depth, finding light even in the darkest corners of loss. Intimate, sexy, and disarmingly funny, Honeyjoon invites us all to laugh through tears and rediscover what it means to come back to life. 

Lilian T. Mehrel is an award-winning writer & director who won the 2024 AT&T Tribeca Untold Stories award for her debut feature, Honeyjoon. Her films have premiered at Tribeca, Clermont-Ferrand, and the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes. She earned her MFA from NYU Tisch Grad Film, and her BA from Dartmouth. A mixed daughter of immigrants, Lilian also authored/illustrated a family memoir and is a PD Soros Fellow. She also enjoys hip-hop dance.