Review Overview
Acting
Visuals / Camera
Sound
Story
Pacing / Editing
Characters
Entertainment Value / X-Factor
Mood / Atmosphere
Total Score
A psychological horror film that will make you think twice about getting married.
A newlywed couple decide to escape the city and go to a lake house that’s surrounded by wilderness for their honeymoon. At first, everything is going great, and they’re prepared to take full advantage of being away from it all. Things take a quick turn for the worst when Paul finds his new bride wandering around disoriented in the woods during the middle of the night.
That’s when things begin to get very strange with his new wife, as she begins to act out-of-character. Soon, he finds himself questioning if she’s still the woman he married.
The Review
If you’re looking for something with a ton of blood, guts, and non-stop action, you’re going to want to keep looking, because this isn’t going to be the horror flick for you. Instead, this movie takes more a psychological approach, and I personally think it works in its favor.
It’s interesting to watch as this couple travels to a lake house while enjoying themselves as they pull empty cans behind their vehicle — fresh from their wedding ceremony — to completely falling apart. Now, I’m not saying that this is a mind-blowing movie that’s going to enlighten you and open a whole new level in your mind, but it’s interesting to see how quickly things can go downhill.
Keep in mind, you’re not going to be so sure as to what’s going on, and why things are taking a turn for the worst. I mean, it’s not like they just went to a lake house and suddenly decided to treat each other like they’re a one night stand couple that got drunk and decided to get hitched in Vegas, and then realize: “Hey, I don’t really know this person.”
Instead, there are varying incidents that lead to distrust in the mind Paul, the husband, played by Harry Treadaway, and these begin to impact his mind, and build within it. You may find the film to be a little slow, but that’s something you have to expect with psychological-based horror films. These emotions the characters go through have to stack on top of each other, layer by layer, until things come crashing down.
Watch Honeymoon (2014) Online On Amazon
The film mostly centers around the two main characters as they try to enjoy their honeymoon, which actually adds a feeling of seclusion to the whole thing, despite taking place in a lake community. It gives you the feeling that these two are trapped together, and have no outside sources for help.
With everything that goes on over the course of the film, you’ll likely wonder what’s leading to the mental deterioration of our main characters:
Could it be that the wife, Bea, played by Rose Leslie, is interested in an old boyfriend?
- What happened in the woods?
- Was she attacked by something?
- Was she meeting up with an ex?
- Were there ulterior motives that inspired her to marry her husband?
- Has she been infected by a parasite that’s wreaking havoc on her brain?
- Has the real Bea been replaced by a doppelganger?
- Maybe Paul is the crazy one and letting stuff go to his head?
I’m trying not to spoil anything for any of you, but this is just some of the questions that went through my mind while watching Honeymoon.
Final Thought
As I said above, this isn’t an action-packed film, and things slowly begin to go downhill while you watch. Still, I found myself drawn into the situation, and interested to see exactly what was happening and how things were going to play out in the end.
So, if you’re in the mood for a psychological horror film, and you understand that you’re not going to get anything extravagant or mind-blowing, including at the end of it all, I say give it a watch. This is clearly a film shot on a budget, so you’re going to be with the main characters a lot, and it’s best to think of yourself like a fly on the wall in their lake house.
If you’re half-asleep, but need something to keep you from conking out, you may want to look elsewhere.