Honeymoon (Movie Review)

Sometimes I wonder if there is a common milestone in life that hasn't had a horror film made about it. If I were a more superstitious type, I'd probably never celebrate a big occasion for fear that something would go awry. "Honeymoon" is a film that reads like any other such occasion-ruiner, but manages to deliver in ways that I didn't expect.

If you're blessed with the gift of reading comprehension, you might guess that "Honeymoon" is a film about newlyweds. The film starts with a defiant middle finger of a video diary made by loner couple Bea (Rose Leslie, Game of Thrones) and Paul (Harry Treadaway, nothing you've heard of), stating their intentions to be together no matter what people say. Woes be damned, they decide to take off to Bea's family's summer cottage for a spirited weekend of post-marital coitus, pet-name calling, and kayaking. Things are going swimmingly at first, but after an inauspicious run-in with one of Bea's old friends, and a midnight rendevous with a mysterious bright white light, Bea begins to show signs that something's up.

A no-budget film with only four characters and one setting should absolutely not work, but "Honeymoon" flies in the face of that supposition by being expertly acted and stylishly executed. It's no small feat for two actors to carry a majority of the film, but Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway nail the highs and lows of married life in a way that's difficult to do correctly. This film could have just as well been a mumbly drama about newlyweds, but "Honeymoon" becomes much more than that. It's also easy to lose viewers with a slow-burn film like this, but there's a reasonable amount of well staged tension that pulls you through the quiet parts before you get to the "what is the this goo and why are you bleeding from there and why are you looking at me like that?" parts. By the time the conclusion rolls around, there's a debate to be had about whether or not the ending properly pays off all of the tension that has built up throughout, but I was so impressed by the rest of the film that I was ok with what it did deliver.

"Honeymoon" is definitely one of the best horror films I've seen this year, even if I was left a bit gobsmacked by the ending. It requires you to really pay attention to get the most out of it, but rewards you for doing so. If nothing else, you'll walk away with another entry on your list of places to not have your Honeymoon. Of course, as a horror fan, you should already know to avoid cabins anyway.