Getting married is supposed to be a time of happiness and excitement – but most married couples will tell you that there’s more than a little anxiety involved as well. Not just about the wedding but the marriage itself, or, more specifically, who you’re marrying:what if the person you thought you knew suddenly changes after you tie the knot?What ifyousuddenly change, losing yourself after marriage?Leigh Janiakexplores this fear of a change in identity inHoneymoon, a tense, paranoid horror movie abouta newlyweds’ trip gone wrong.Rose LeslieandHarry Treadawayplay the new husband and wife, but their roles when it comes to the horror aspect are completely flipped from most traditional horror movies. Instead of the husband becoming menacing and the wife struggling against abuse, it’s the husband who has to contend witha drastic and terrifying change in his wife.
‘Honeymoon’ Reverses The Traditional Roles of Gaslighting in a Relationship
InHoneymoon,Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway are Bea and Paul, a newly married couple just starting their honeymoonin a remote lakeside cabin. At first, the two are as happy as you’d expect a new husband and wife to be, showing nothing but love for each other and excitement to be in each other’s company. Butafter Bea seemingly goes sleepwalkingon their first night at the cabin, her behavior starts changing, andPaul fears that something terrible must have happened to Bea in the woods. She forgets how to do simple tasks at first, like making French toast, but then things escalate as she also seems toforget facts about their relationshipand even their wedding. But when Paul points out these discrepancies,Bea’s first tactic is to deny what he’s saying completely, even when it’s obvious, like when she makes coffee but forgets to actually grind the beans.
The 10 Best Gaslighting Movies, Ranked
“Have you gone mad, my husband? Or is it I who am mad?”
Horror movies have gotten a lot of mileage out ofthe concept of gaslighting, an abusive tactic involving actively deceiving a partner to invalidate their concerns and make them reliant on their abuser. The usual scenario is a man psychologically abusing his female partner, butHoneymoonswitches things up by having Bea use gaslight tactics on her husband. When denying her strange behavior doesn’t work, Bea often resorts to saying things like “you’re acting crazy right now,” a common gaslighting tactic;after enough time hearing that they’re “crazy,” they start to believe it might be true. Although Bea believes she’s doing these things for a good reason, it still causes distress in Paul andmakes him more determined to find out the truthabout what’s happening to his new wife.
Both Husband and Wife Are Victims in ‘Honeymoon’
Honeymoonnever points an accusatory finger at either Paul or Bea for their behavior. Aside froma brief moment of jealousy and suspicionat the beginning of the movie, Paul never tries to bully Bea or to hard-headedly refuse to believe that something strange is going on; he’s genuinely concerned about her well-being and wants to help her through whatever’s happening. Even during a moment of physical struggle between the two, it’s caused by Paul wanting to stop Bea from hurting herself; furthermore, by this point, Paul is almost certain thatthe woman before him is not his wife, at least not completely, and he’s doing his best to keep her from running away before he can figure out how to help his true wife. Harry Treadaway plays the distress well, never resorting tothe toxic masculine traits that are also prevalent in many horror movies. This is in direct contrast to another couple they run into who are experiencing the same problem; the man in that relationship (Ben Huber)comes off as much more aggressive towards his wife’s strange behavior, supporting the idea that Paul’s character is very intentionally written to be sympathetic.
But calling Paul a victim is not to dismiss the fact thatBea herself is also a victim. It’s no mistake that Paul at first believes she may have been sexually assaulted while sleepwalking;what happens to Bea in the woodsirrevocably changes her against her will and leads to both physical and emotional torment for her. And while dismissing her husband’s concerns and outright lying to him may not have been the best decision, she reveals that her behavior partially stems from the fact that she knowsthings are going to end badly. She just wanted their final days together to be happy instead of filled with fear and fruitless attempts to save her;she was trying to pretend everything was normal(albeit badly) to spare her husband more pain.
It’s a refreshingmix-up of traditional gender roles in horror, especially because it doesn’t simply swap out the physical appearance of victim and “abuser” but actually writes the characters to fit the unconventional roles. Even calling Bea an abuser isn’t really accurate, as her motivations are well-intentioned and she herself is in danger as well.Both characters act out of love for the other, which makes the finale heartbreaking to watch, as the forces behind Bea’s changes are ultimately the only winners.
