"Honeymoon" Is Your Spouse Who You Think They Are?

The Trailer:

Director:Leigh Janiek
Cast:Rose Leslie & Harry Treadaway

Synopsis: On the second night of their honeymoon at her her family's lakeside cabin, Paul (Harry Treadaway) finds Bea (Rose Leslie) wandering the woods while in a sort of trance.

First off let me say, I was ecstatic upon watching the trailer and seeing Harry Treadaway was starring in this movie. He is fantastic as Dr. Frankenstein in Penny Dreadful and was excited to see if he would bring that same dark, cynicism that is ever present in that role into this movie. While I can fairly say that his role as Paul is not as intense as Dr. Frankenstein, it was still a joy to watch. Paul is loving, attentive,charming, and worrisome, especially after finding Bea wandering the woods alone at night. Rose Leslie, whom I am not familiar with, as Bea was a perfect match for Paul; she is quirky, strong, adventurous, and loving. It is clear that there is a deep connection between the two characters, that they understand each other on a more emotional level. This very strong and emotional connection is called into question later in the movie which leaves us wondering do they really know each other or is there something more sinister at play here? This film isn't in-your-face scary which I am grateful for. Rather than having intense, outright scary elements, this film manifests an aura of fear through the establishment of strange and eerie atmospheric tones; what with the isolated, outdated cabin and the sense of being alone in a ghost town (they went to the cabin in the off-season so there is no one around). From a pretty early point, we can deduce that there are extraterrestrial forces (or some kind of paranormal force) at play here, but the force never comes to the forefront of the movie. The fact that the extraterrestrial force is left as more of a backdrop to the occurrences throughout the film made me like it so much more. The story focuses more on the uncertainty Paul feels towards Bea as she becomes a distorted version of herself, a version that is stripped of everything that made her Bea. The setting also plays a part in the overall tone of the film. As I mentioned earlier, they're at the cabin in the off-season, so it has a sense of abandonment. Also, with woods being so daunting— especially after Bea was found wandering in them—, there is a feeling of being trapped by them.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and am glad that I watched it despite the lower rating it has on IMDb and Netflix. Would I watch it again? Most definitely!