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| Things go wrong too quickly for Paul (Harry Treadaway) and Bea (Rose Leslie) in Honeymoon (2014) |
Ah, Honeymoon. This film has so much potential, truly, but this tale of a Honeymooning couple who run afoul of something in the woods outside Bea's childhood family retreat just cannot rise above the questions it leaves hanging, or the gore and shock tactics that render women's bodies horrifying and disgusting. I'm disappointed to see that this viewpoint, entirely told through the eyes of the male protagonist, Paul, is written and directed by a woman. Heavy sigh. This film is her first, and though it has some issues, I hope it is not her last.
The film suggests that one can never know one's spouse, especially if after finding her walking around in the woods in the middle of the night, he awakens to find her unable to brew coffee or make french toast adequately. The HORROR! Paul is suspicious and proceeds to test Bea at every turn, especially after going back to where he found her in the woods and finding her torn nightgown. The biggest problem with this film is that there is no building of tension or slow burn. Change happens very quickly, and the film has virtually no suspense.
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| Paul investigates Bea's sexy nightgown |
While Treadaway is really quite delightful as Victor Frankenstein on Showtime's Penny Dreadful, and Rose Leslie is also great on Game of Thrones, there really is no chemistry between these actors in this film. They seem to be sniping at each other very soon into the honeymoon, and the film goes to some length to maintain Bea's "mystery" by never getting into her head. She's constantly scrutinized by her new husband, and the audience is supposed to be discovering the horror right along with Paul. Yet, I found him so unappealing and unlikeable (his decision to go and catch fish in the early morning hours utterly idiotic), that I just wanted him to die...like right away. Instead, the camera follows him around as he (and we) piece things together.
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| "You Know Nothing, Paul!" |
The world gets weirder as the story evolves. The one clear thing is that "something bad" happened to Bea in the woods, and its affecting her body, especially her lady parts. She has some nasty, scabby "mosquito" bites on her inner thighs, she starts spontaneously bleeding, self-mutilates herself at one point, and then there's a truly gross-out scare that sends everything into hyper-drive. After that moment, Bea becomes completely and utterly abject, and one wonders just how things are going to all shake out. Unsurprisingly, at this point in the film, Paul loses all interest in her--she's beyond saving. Thankfully, she is kind enough to help him "hide," even after he's treated her so shoddily.
I can hint at references the film makes--to body snatching, the Evil Dead, possession narratives, alien abduction, The Wicker Man--but what you end up with is mere speculation. The film never really reveals what happens in the woods, and the spectator is left hanging, attempting to fill in the many plot holes that the film leaves gaping open. Honeymoon never reaches for cleverness or provides any explanations, which leaves one saying "Okay, then." The film has so much potential, but it just squanders it. I think even merely changing things by providing Bea's point-of-view would have made the film far more compelling. Instead, we're stuck with Paul.
If you want to see a film that explores the abject, female body, but has a more fleshed out female protagonist, I would recommend the fore-mentioned Animosity (2013), or the smart and twisty Dutch horror thriller Left Bank (2008).
