Honeymoon (2014) was not a movie that caught my eye while browsing Netflix. It looked like any other cheap horror flick with a mediocre blurb and thumbnail. Not saying that's too terrible, many of the movies I've watched on Netflix have a similar look and feel, which is exactly why it never caught my attention.
But a week ago, it was recommended to me and I thought, "Why not? I'll give it a whirl."
I am so glad I did.
The movie stars Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) and Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful) as newlyweds Bea and Paul, who are heading up to the bride's family cottage for their honeymoon. It starts off romantic, sweet, and relatable with excellent acting as over the moon lovebirds from both the leads.
But things don't stay so sweet for long. When Bea takes Paul to a local restaurant, they meet the only two other people in the entire film and things are not as wonderful as Bea remembers. Something is wrong with the couple who run the diner, but Bea and Paul write it off as a spat, and it plays an excellent contrast to the happy young lovers.
The other couple should have served as a warning to the newlyweds. Soon after their meeting, Bea isn't acting exactly like herself. Her memory slips, she doesn't use the right words at the right time, and she won't let Paul touch her. Something is very, very wrong with Bea, but no matter what Paul tries to do, she won't let him help.
From start to finish, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. Dark, haunting, mysterious, and melancholic, Honeymoon is as beautiful as it is unsettling. It's never explicitly scary, but it doesn't need to be. As more layers of the mystery that surrounds Bea begin to unfold, only more questions remain. Whether she is an active participant in what is happening or an unwilling victim is a question that lingers right up to the last moments of the film.
It's a hidden gem on Netflix, and worth a watch for anyone looking to be unsettled for an evening.
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