Honeymoon *** (2014, Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway) – Movie Review

A couple of Brit actors do well with their performances and their American accents as American newlywed couple Paul and Bea who take off for a just-the-two-of-them honeymoon in a cabin in the woods by a lake in the countryside. Their heaven soon starts to descend into hell after Paul finds Bea wandering and disoriented in the middle of their first night of love.

Co-writer/director Leigh Janiak’s debut movie horror thriller is two thirds of a good movie, the first two thirds. She then allows her third act to go to hell, as it descends into the chaos of a conventional climax, and even this routine, feeble idea is fumbled.

This is a huge pity as Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway are absolutely excellent,  sexy, appealing and truly persuasive as a young married couple besotted with, and made for each other. The film spends a long time building this relationship, and getting you to know and like the couple. And this is easily its best section.

The middle segment doesn’t lag far behind, though, and builds the mood of paranoia nicely, as they bonk and a mysterious beam of light sweeps across their bedroom. Bea starts wandering about the woods during their honeymoon’s very first night, Paul finds her disturbed and subtly changed, and begins to wonder if she’s the woman he married.

They meet a creepy neighbour (Ben Huber), who turns out an old boyfriend of Bea’s. Paul gets instantly and convincingly jealous as Bea seems still interested in the guy, who meanwhile seems to be abusing the woman (Hanna Brown) he’s currently living with. All this is really good stuff, tense and gripping, promising much. But then, well then quite frankly you can afford to miss the whole of the lame extended sci-fi climax. Sci-fi buffs will have had no problem guessing what route the story’s going to take. The mystery is easily solved with too obvious clues earlier.

Of course the question is, where could you have taken this story that wasn’t here? And the answer is, anywhere but here.

Leslie and particularly Treadaway boost their claim to stardom with their first-rate, charismatic work here. Why did they bother setting it, and making it (North Carolina), in America when there’s two Brits starring? Box office reasons, I guess.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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