It’s day 13 out of 31 in our Halloween celebration. More importantly, it’s Sunday. That means it’s a Wild Card pick. While Halloween is typically associated with witches, ghosts, devils, and pumpkins, today we’re looking back at one of the decade’s best sci-fi horror movies; Leigh Janiak’s feature debut Honeymoon. There’s no jump scares or quick terror, just slow-building dread and some unsettling horror centered around what should be the happiest time in a young couple’s life- their honeymoon. After the film’s 2014 release, Janiak worked on horror series Outcast and Scream, but it looks like the new decade will mark her return to features in Fear Street films. That only makes this revisit all the more fitting.
Synopsis: Young couple Bea and Paul have just married and have set out to a secluded lakeside cabin in the woods for their honeymoon. Despite some strange behavior from the locals, their honeymoon is off to a swimming start. Until Bea goes missing in the middle of the night. Paul finds her naked and disoriented in the woods, with no memory of how or why she got there. Her behavior only grows more distant and bizarre from there, and a concerned Paul tries to solve the mystery of what’s happening to his wife.
Key Players: Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie is Bea, and Penny Dreadful’s Harry Treadaway is Paul. Ben Huber and Hanna Brown make up the rest of the cast in this tiny feature.
Why It’s on the List: This selection brings some variety to the 31 Days of Halloween, in tone and subgenre. It’s a small feature, which means small cast and a quiet, meditative style, but Leslie and Treadaway turn in some captivating performances that keep you engaged. Janiak doesn’t wait long to give you an inkling of what’s happening, but she keeps the audience off-kilter enough with dramatic shifts that means it’s difficult to predict how everything will end. And if you’ve never seen this before, there’s no way to prepare for how disturbing things will get. Paranoia, intense emotion, and some seriously creepy moments. Horror has taught us time and time again to steer clear of the woods, but Honeymoon presents a wholly new and unique reason to steer clear.
Who Did Paul Marry?: The stranger that Bea behaves, the more Paul begins to question who he actually married. Understandably. But this is a horror movie, and those answers come with a whole set of their own problems. And they’re best discovered going in blind. So no clip, but here’s a tease.
Where You Can Watch: Honeymoon is currently available on Shudder, Magnolia Selects, and Hulu streaming services.
