Hoop-Tober, Film 11 of 31:

A baffling film, to say the least. To me, it's clearly allegorical, but unlike a film such as Denis Villeneuve's Enemy, I'm unable to figure out what this film might represent. With Enemy, after looking back at all of the signs and thinking about the film for a half hour or so, I had already come to the conclusion that it was, loosely, a film about infidelity. It's been about that long since I've finished Honeymoon, and I'm still completely in the dark. Nonetheless, I'll theorize.

Okay, I think... I think, I think, I THINK that this film is entirely a metaphor for the fear of having a child. It is, in that sense, similar…

Hooptober 2020: reviews | list

"I am not a real duck."

Newlywed couple Bea and Paul retreat to their family's old lake house to get some alone-time, but after a couple days of passionate lovemaking Paul finds Bea out in the woods, naked, apparently sleepwalking—though he's never known her to sleepwalk before. Bea starts acting strange, forgetting how to make coffee and French toast, losing interest in sex, and generally not behaving like herself. Paul can't get straight answers from Bea about what's going on, so he becomes increasingly agitated and eventually questions his trust in his new wife and wonders who he really took with him on his Honeymoon.

Honeymoon explores extremely interesting emotional and psychological issues, my problem…

”I thought I saw something bad.”

Honeymoon isn't your typical horror. It doesn't go for the jump scares or ultra-gore. Yes, there is blood, but it a result more than a gross-out factor. Leigh Janiak's psychological horror bruises the brain moreso than the body when the newlyweds discover that love isn't all fun and games. The strength of the film is the performances from the leads: Bea (Rose Leslie) and Paul (Harry Treadaway). Leslie is subdued, but strong and Treadaway cautiously approaches his wife when things seem amiss.

Recommended for those who are seeking something new from the horror genre and for those who don't mind that it is not at all flashy. I love to see more women directing…

“Before I was alone… Now I’m not.” 

Words murmured in the haze of newly wed bliss with the utmost innocence that take on a spine-chilling dread as the true scope of Honeymoon reveals itself. 

The alien presences that allow for most of the visual horrors are a mere vehicle for the true terrors of the film. Honeymoon is a magnificent display of how scary it is to be lost in wifedom, to be lost in being viewed as a baby maker, to be lost in a level of facelessness that can only be found in the brutalization of women. At once body horror and art house horror, a fantastic combo that works so well in the film’s primarily singular location. …

"We don't remember"

Newlyweds Bea and Paul have their honeymoon at a mostly isolated cabin, because cabins are completely safe. They goof off, fuck, go rowing, fuck, go fishing, fuck. You get it. Meanwhile, Bea starts 'sleepwalking' and just overall acting weird, because cabins. They meet another couple who act suspiciously right away. Are they to blame, or were they a forewarning for what's really out there?

There was an ominous feeling that consumed this movie, but I really felt like it wasn't going to pay off until it actually did. Just make sure you can stay patient with this movie or you will not like it at all, as this movie has a really slow going.

+ Quirky characters.…