User reviews

Honeymoon reminds me a lot of The One I Love which came out the same year. They're both about a couple who go on an isolated retreat and end up getting more than they bargained for. It's a good premise and one that promises potential, but it's entirely reliant on the execution of the mystery. Something is wrong with Bea, the wife of the recently married couple. The first night of their honeymoon, she wanders out in the middle of the night and Paul, the husband, goes out to find her naked in the woods with no memory of what happened prior. From then on she acts distant - hiding things from him, lying about trivial things - something just isn't right. And the way the movie is set up is very well done. For a good hour of the movie I was totally into it. I had no idea what the threat was and was eager to find out. Then you do find out what it is and it's quite horrifying, but you can tell the filmmakers didn't exactly know how to end the movie.

What carries Honeymoon is the acting. The two leads are excellent and have great chemistry throughout, so when the weird things start happening, you believe the husband's growing concern and the wife's pleads of innocence. And the pacing is spot on. Atmosphere is front and center from the start. The setting is a cabin in the woods, and as cliché as it may be for a horror story, it can be thoroughly effective with the right ambiance and Honeymoon delivers in that regard. The mystery itself is unraveled at a good pace as well, leaving breadcrumbs for the audience and throwing a few twists and turns along the way.

Now I'm giving the movie a lot of praise, and that's because I consider 6/10 an above-average score which is precisely what Honeymoon is - an above-average horror mystery. It's nothing revolutionary. The One I Love did a better job with this premise, but that doesn't mean Honeymoon isn't worth checking out. If you're in the mood for an engaging edge-of-your-seat thriller, you're looking in the right place.

For their honeymoon, a newly-wed couple Paul and Bea travel to the bride's former home, a rural, sparsely populated community in Canada. A strange encounter with an old acquaintance follows a sleepwalking incident involving Bea and from hereon in it becomes clear that something is terribly wrong.

This indie flick has a very small cast that relies largely on the acting of its two central characters, a couple of Brits called Rose Leslie and Harry Treadway whose American accents are pretty flawless it has to be said. Both put in very strong performances in roles that require a fair bit of range. The characters evolve from so-happy-we'll-make-you-sick just married, through to relationship distrust and eventually onto outright psychological horror. The actors are good enough to convince in all these very differing levels of emotion. Because the story has so few characters, such a remote setting and such intense emotions, it's a film that is somewhat claustrophobic in its effect. It underplays the horror side of things and slowly builds thing up layer by layer. But we are never in any doubt that there is something very strange going on and there are small unusual clues punctuated along the way, such as strange sexual-looking marks on Bea's body, a recurring gooey substance found alongside her discarded night-dress and her strange distant behaviour. To reveal any more would be unfair, so I will leave it at that but suffice to say that this is a very good, mysterious genre piece well directed by Leigh Janiak.

Honeymoon can immediately be assumed as a scary movie, easily because it involves some paranormal situation, but the heart of the story is studying how long would the main couple hold together no matter what. How the characters flesh out their relationship and the sudden trouble of their connection instantly triumphs the whole film, until it still attempts to do something more crazy in the end for the sake of the genre. It sadly doesn't live up to what it has set up and rather turn things underwhelming, but Honeymoon is still a pretty clever psychological thriller that is a lot interesting to watch than your average horror film.

This is basically an ultimate test of a seemingly perfect marriage. The beginning already shows that nothing can keep the two apart, and it's even more clear to how strong their connection is to each other. Once it moves to the mystery, their sweet romance fades, but still doesn't abandon its core. In spite of having a possible traumatic or paranormal involvement to the new behavior of Bea, it still centers to how their relationship goes. The real horror of the film is basically having the fear of losing the loved one and suspecting the worst things to come. It is done terrifically as a slow burn, but what reveals in the end, though can be acceptable, won't be the kind of answer that people would be blown away or terrified at. But the best of the movie is how it smartly defines this couple, even when things get stranger.

Horror films today rarely finds good performances, but this movie pleasantly has two great leads. Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway convincingly shows the couple's affections. Leslie does an excellent job shifting the traits of her character, without taking the weirdness too far. While Treadaway naturally manifests his character's confusion towards the situation. The direction is slick, guided by a decent pacing. The camera-work captures a lot of beautiful shots. Though, horror movies tend to make things look ugly for the sake of being creepy, this movie does have one gross scene that you might not forget in a long time, but most of the experience looks pretty, as an illusion from the terror behind.

Honeymoon still has an underwhelming revelation that fails to be scary or anything beyond that, but the film is better when the horror is much grounded, creating an intriguing symbolism within the mystery. It never really matters where the threat comes from, the film just challenges this newlyweds and there it's already fascinating, by building a much serious conflict. This is the quality that can only be seen in indie horror. It leaves out the conventional tricks and tries to make tension out of its own. But even without trying to be scary, it still offers a good story.

Totally surprising. Finally, there's been some good horror films this year but none all that great, and I finally found it (that is, if I don't count Under The Skin as horror). The pacing in this is really excellent, and it follows the old-school rule of what it doesn't show us is scarier. It's not incredibly original by any means, but it also doesn't fall into old weary horror clichés and it's all pretty grounded. This is in part due to the script and the really elegant and observant direction, but also because of the two fantastic lead performances. Rose Leslie certainly made her mark in Game of Thrones, and she's one to watch out for in the future. She's incredibly effective here, as is Harry Treadaway. Their chemistry is strong and it's about time we get some great acting in a horror film. This is truly well-acted and engrossing horror, not to mention actually scary. Might just be one of my favorite films the year so far

Well, I usually try to maintain at least the minimal level of objectivity in my reviews, but in this case I find myself unable to do so. The first review that loaded when I opened this film's page complained about the "cliched", "nauseating" and "painful" acting and portray of romance. I am happy to say that I found that review to be as far away from the truth as possible.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I like saying beautiful scenes of true love and romance. The first half of The Honeymoon gives us just that - a beautiful couple who found their missing piece in each other, getting married as a celebration of their undying devotion and going away on a honeymoon. Slightly corny? Perhaps. Clichéd? We'd wish, not nowadays... I personally found it to be touching, moving and eye-watering. May we all know such love in our lives.

Then there's the acting, which I found to be not half bad! I think the entire cast of four has done an excellent job. Rose Leslie is great as the loving new wife going through something supernatural she doesn't yet comprehend. Harry Treadaway is a profound loving husband having to deal with the sudden terrifying change in his newlywed wife. Lastly but not least, Ben Huber and Hanna Brown, with the few minutes of camera time they have received, have done exactly what they were supposed to do and exactly the way they were supposed to do it, right on the spot!

As for the script - I'm not sure I'm really happy with the story and supposed twist. I didn't feel like the outcome justified the build- up (which was excellent), and I can't help but rule that this film suffers from the bane of the Horror genre - an anticlimactic ending. Having an at least 8.5 rated acting with a no higher than 5 rated story is what made me decide the overall rate of the Honeymoon, seeing as how the acting and story are pretty much the only features worth mentioning for a devout Horror fan viewer such as myself.

All in all, you could find Horror films that are more frightening and horrific, and simply better. But I doubt you would find one more romantic, and we may have just witnessed the birth of the Romantic Horror sub-genre. Regardless, I thing the film is definitely worth watching, especially for couples who enjoy Horror and don't expect every film to be a phenomenon. Let us also not forget that this a single location low budget film, that still succeeds in being fun and not that bad! I say, as always, watch it and judge for yourselves.

I would have given this movie 8 if it had a better. honestly, I am sick and tired of horror films that build up a mystery, only to never solve the mystery. This was a promising movie. I was hooked into it. There was an intriguing mystery and clues were thrown all around.

And for what? An ending with almost NO explanation at all. This is so freaking cliche now. I am sick of horror movies doing this. We want to know why these things were going on. We do NOT want to always have to write the ending on our own. That is the screenwriter's job. But people nowadays make films without and ending that explains what was going on.

Ambiguous endings have their place, no doubt. But only when the clues that came before it are meaningful to the end. Here they are not. It was lazy and the ending invalidated the whole movie.

I'm actually surprised this film doesn't have a higher rating. Right before this I watch the horror film "Mama," which I criticized for showing too much and leaving nothing to the imagination. Refreshingly, this movie does the opposite, and shows very little, which really makes the movie better. It is common for low-budget movies to have to be creative and not show things they want to show, but this is usually a blessing in disguise.

The two young actors are great and they have a good chemistry. They seem so perfect for each other, so it becomes that much more suspenseful as things start to go wrong.

The movie has a fairly simple plot, and never really explains exactly what is going on. From an early point in the film, I got an idea that we were dealing with a sci-fi, otherworldly evil and there is never really any twist or surprise that reveals anything different.

The reason that the movie still works, is the couple is likable and we really feel the husbands frustration and feel sorry for him.

I read another review complaining about the ending, and I can see where they are coming from, but to me the ending was fine. I'm actually glad they didn't try to reveal too much or explain everything perfectly. The main let down is that it is very predictable. It basically confirmed my suspicions all along.

I like sci-fi horror movies like this, and I actually prefer this type of explanation over the more common metaphysical/ghost type of evil.

Overall, it was a fun and suspenseful movie that kept me engaged until the end. There is not a lot of depth or substance to keep me thinking about it, but I can definitely still recommend it.

Another doesn't make sense movie. We are not told the why or the how. We just see what happened somehow. The first half of the movie is fine. The second half get progressively worse until the final scene which makes no sense. It's still a good watch though if you like Rose Leslie.

...from debut writer-director Leigh Janiak, released by Magnet. Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway star as a newlywed American couple who decide to spend their honeymoon in a remote cabin in the Canadian wilderness. After a few days of bliss, things take a turn when Treadaway finds Leslie apparently sleepwalking in the woods late one night. She doesn't seem quite the same afterward, forgetting things and with strange injuries on her body. The husband's dread starts to grow even stronger as the wife's condition worsens.

I can't reveal too much about the plot as the less known the better. Leslie and Treadaway, both British performers best known for TV roles (she on Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, he from Penny Dreadful), are good, although I have to wonder why they didn't cast American or Canadian performers for the American roles. This is a slow-burn thriller, and audiences have to be patient, although I thought the film went on about 10 minutes too long, and it only ran 87 minutes in total, so some fleshing out of the script would have helped. Still, for a debut feature from a new filmmaker, it is notable. North Carolina stands in for Canada.

I just watched this movie on Hulu. I had never heard of it and didn't realize it has been out awhile. The trailer looked promising! But unfortunately this one turned out to be a dud unless you like open ended movies with no closure/answers. If a movie isn't a good story answering The Who what when where why and how.... I'll pass. It would've been nice to at least be thought provoking and open for some interpretation but I saw nothing. It had potential to be a great movie but it seems like the writers fell asleep every ten minutes

If you can't sit through a relatively slow-paced movie without losing interest and wanting to play Angry Birds, this might not be the film for you. If however you do have an adult attention span and aren't afraid to engage it, this film will reward your patience many times over.

Utilising a vanishingly small cast remarkably well, the film relies on the believability of the dialogue and the fine acting of the two main characters to draw you ever closer into their seemingly idyllic world. I won't go into any specific detail, but it is a technique that pays off as things become more and more unsettling and a real sense of wrongness begins to pervade what was supposed to be a perfect romantic getaway in the woods.

The film successfully ratchets up the tension over the runtime of 87 minutes, and despite a pretty slow start, delivers a lot by the time of the final credits, leaving you feeling genuinely creeped-out and not entirely sure of what you just witnessed.

Honeymoon is that rare beast, a genuinely well-crafted horror movie. The dialogue is genuinely solid, the acting is good, but it's the perfect pacing that really makes this a must-see for any avid horror fans.

Continuing in my long list of movies I chose to watch from Game of Thrones actors over the last month or so, 'Honeymoon' stars the always fantastic Rose Leslie as 'Bea' the troubled half of a newlywed couple whose honeymoon certainly doesn't go as planned. First off, who thought that having your honeymoon in the woods in the middle of nowhere was a good idea? I understand the desire for privacy and the ability to be secluded from everything else in life but this plot felt avoidable if they only picked a more common destination. Alas, we have Honeymoon, the slow-building, bloody, gritty, and ambiguous horror film that doesn't quite have the payoff that the premise initially makes a promise to deliver on. But still, a more than watchable, well-acted film from director Leigh Janiak.

6.3/10

I am an avid horror fan, it is by far my favorite genre. I like all kinds of horror and don't mind slow paced films at all. However "Honeymoon" was a pretty big letdown. from the trailer and reviews and I was pretty excited to give this a watch, but boy did it fall flat.

The story starts out fairly generic, a couple goes to a cabin in the woods. It quickly turns into something else entirely, and that "something" else really isn't that great. The parts that were obviously suppose to be tense and creepy just didn't do it for me, and the story didn't have much to offer so I just found myself wanting to know what was going on so I could just be done with it.

The acting is by far this movies strong point. The small cast does an excellent job, even though the script is fairly poor.

I feel like as horror fans we are so desperate for new horror we often grasp onto not so good films and try to convince ourselves that they are great. People are praising "Honeymoon" but I'm not entirely sure why, it really just isn't a good movie.

4/10

Who are they? What are the women turn into? Whats that light? Etc.

Too many open questions. I feel left alone with my fantasy.

I offer more Stars for more Information. lol

The newlywed Bea (Rose Leslie) and Paul (Harry Treadaway) travel to a remote cottage in the woods that belongs to her family for their honeymoon. They are happy and feeling deep love for each other. They decide to have lunch at a rustic restaurant where Bea meets her childhood friend Will (Ben Huber), who owns the restaurant and has a strange behavior. He tells that he got married to Annie (Hanna Brown) and asks them to leave since the restaurant is closed. During the night, the house searched by a light and soon Bea vanishes. Paul finds her naked and wandering in the woods and she claims that she is sleepwalker. Paul suspects that she had encountered Will while Bea changes her behavior. What might have happen to Bea?

"Honeymoon" is a claustrophobic and tense low-budget horror movie supported by a well-written screenplay that keeps the mystery to the end and great performances of Rose "Ygritte" Leslie and Harry Treadaway. The conclusion should be the climax of the story but is quite cold. I usually hate sequels and franchises but this movie deserves a sequel with further explanations about the fate of Bea and Annie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Paul (Harry Treadaway) and Bea (Rose Leslie) are a newly married couple, heading to Bea's old rustic cabin in a forest to spend their honeymoon. Right off the bat, they are saucy and intimate, constantly having sex and enjoying each others presence, leading us to believe their marriage, if kept up this way, will be long and prosperous. One day, the two have a strange encounter with a man named Will (Ben Huber), who works at a diner close-by (why there's a diner in the middle of desolate nowhere is beyond me, but I digress) and recognizes Bea, referring to her as "Trixie." Paul is offput by the relationship Bea and Will seem to have held at one point, along with the fact that Will seems to be unstable, violently demanding they leave the premise one moment, warming up to him and Bea the next, and then putting his wife Annie (Hanna Brown) in a headlock.

Following that interaction with Will and Annie, Bea's behavior becomes increasingly strange and anti-social, as she often forgets basic information about her life, resorting to her keeping a detailed diary of things like her name, her birthday, and her favorite color. Paul becomes concerned with her behavioral patterns, as any husband would, and desperately tries to piece together what is haunting Bea and why it just decided to happen now.

Bea isn't haunted in the conventional, supernatural definition, nor is Honeymoon really a supernatural film. It's a mystery at heart, with horror elements draping it all over the place, and finds some success as it weaves between those two genres. The film almost feels like the alternate-genre take on The One I Love, this year's video-on-demand sleeper hit about a couple who vacation in a resort home to work out their secrets between one another while becoming entangled with something incredibly mystifying. Honeymoon and The One I Love function similarly because, much like with the latter, while the performances and the pacing are things to admire, the downside to both pictures is their lack of coherent explanation, or even an attempt at explanation.

While The One I Love was relatively poor at summarizing its plot, and just making it so we could kind of latch on to the ideas presented in a metaphorical light, Honeymoon barely hints at the possibilities of what exactly could be haunting Bea. I have a theory I'm not even going to try and articulate in writing, but the point is, I should at least have enough confidence when exiting a film like this to understand what has happened to the film's characters, whom I just spent an upwards of ninety minutes with. The fact that Honeymoon doesn't really give us much to define in the way of narrative explanations is a tad insulting to those who have cordially tried to follow the film, only to be rewarded with an ending that isn't even necessarily ambiguous but incredibly gray.

Honeymoon's other issue, although it is far more insignificant, is it misses a grave opportunity to turn the tables on Paul as a character. Rather than practically confirming that Bea is indeed the one with the troubled nature and Paul is the sane one, trying to come to terms with his wife's behavior, first-time writer/director Leigh Janiak could've bent the psyche of Paul in a way that we'd be asking whether or not Bea was actually losing sense of character or Paul was just an unstable, paranoid husband.

Nonetheless, Honeymoon invites a slowburn tactic of horror filmmaking into the mix, which is pleasant enough, as well as focusing on two characters levied by solid lead performances in a delightfully mumblecore-style fashion. Janiak's pacing is also nice, as things begin to slowly divulge from a calm and collective environment to a more haunting and unsettling one as Bea's instability begins to surface. The final act, however, feels as if Janiak forgot to invite many visual/shock elements into her screenplay and decided to make use of grotesque features and a vague ending. This is where Honeymoon exits low-key craft and enters the realm of horror films that aren't totally satisfying or rewarding. I feel if I spend too long trying to analyze Honeymoon in a deeper sense, I'll only grow more and more disappointed at what I didn't see rather than appreciate what I did see, and, as of right now, I still kind of like the film.

Starring: Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway, Ben Huber, and Hanna Brown. Directed by: Leigh Janiak.

This was a mixed bag for me. There were some successful aspects but more overwhelmingly unsuccessful I think.

It moved quite slowly throughout, and once it really started to get interesting it was over... with a very vague, ambiguous ending at that. It didn't just feel open ended, it felt underdeveloped. The whole story did to be honest... but the idea was there.

The script was... not good. It also felt underdeveloped and slightly juvenile as well. I think that transcended to the actors performances because while neither of them were BAD, both of their performances felt stilted and just kind of weird/off. It also could be due to the fact that they both were putting on American accents, idk.

Despite its many flaws, it was still generally entertaining and I didn't hate it by any means. There was some creep factor and gnarly body horror towards the end. It landed at a 4.5 for me but I will round up as it did keep me engaged. Might recommend, but wouldn't put at the top of your cue.

This was a movie that I really wanted to enjoy, but the ending just completely ruins the ride from those tense and creepy moments found earlier in the movie. It is hard to talk about the movie without giving anything away, especially the ending and all the nonsense and complications that come with it. It seems like the writers were developing the story quite well, but then when it was time for the big reveal/ending, they went for an all out shock effect (which in my opinion just didn't work). The ending is without question where the movie falls apart and just kills the vibe.......plain and simple. But outside of those final moments of the movie, the movie is very effective, it really has some strong tension and unease. The 2nd act out of the three is where the movie truly shines, because it does a great job putting the viewer on edge and keeping us hidden from what truly is going on. Oh and did I mention that the movie doesn't answer a single question about the ending?

"A newlywed couple finds their lake-country honeymoon descend into chaos after Paul finds Bea wandering and disoriented in the middle of their first night."

That's really all you need to know. Reading too much about this movie will give too much. Trailer actually gives away too much.

Excellent storytelling makes this "same old" story refreshing. Movie will keep playing with audiences, making them guess which horror subgenre will it go as the movie closes in? Is it good old "there's evil in the woods!" story? Is it a vampire movie? Is it something entirely else?

Good atmosphere, good use of sets and locations. Good acting by Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway make somewhat B script seem much more larger and better then it actually is.

It's moves slow at time which only adds to atmosphere and character build. Speaking of characters it's refreshing to see likable characters that you don't want to die immediately after they are introduced into the movie. It only adds up to horror when terror finally starts. Screenplay itself gives you just enough to know what's going on (mostly at the end), but thankfully nothing was overexplained and too detailed. It's refreshing actually, and something new for younger audiences. They'll actually have to use bit of their imagination at last!

Two especially nasty scene. No jump scares (thank God!), but uneasy mood along with good score makes this movie rather creepy.

Must be my lucky dice, I've seen two movies in two days that are less on special effects and atmosphere\storytelling heavy.

I saw this at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, more or less by chance. I went to the theater to attend a reading of George R.R. Martin (which was great), and this movie started just shortly afterward. I was surprised and pleased to see that the leading actress was one of the actresses of Game of Thrones, where she played Ygritte the wildling.

In Honeymoon she could show a more mellow side.

I am not quite sure why I liked this film so much. It is rather slow, normally I get bored easily. One point was probably the realism of the thing (before the horror starts I mean). This thanks to the excellent acting and good dialogue. And also the good use of the surroundings. Another point is that the story line is more or less original and does not follow one of the numerous stereotypes in horror film making.

Its horror is more psychological, gorehounds will probably be bored.

The negative: Making a good ending for a movie is one of the hardest things. And I must say, that I did not find it all too satisfying in this case.

But apart from that I would really recommend this movie.

A twenty something couple from New York City have just married and travel to a lakeside house for a honeymoon getaway and strange lights appear through the windows and wifey wanders into the woods and her personality changes radically upon return to the love nest; no more sex dear, I have a headache and these nasty scars on my inner thighs. Unfortunately, the acting is not great, and the script poorly written. I was not scared at any point and the constant piano and violin music annoyed the hell out of me. This is mostly a two actor movie, and nether of them is all that compelling to watch.

A silly ending adds up to a weak 4/10.