There’s a creepy feeling that washes over you while watching G.G. Hawkins I Really Love My Husband. It starts from the opening frames when Madison Lanesey’s Teresa steps into the bathroom during her wedding party, making a call, tell the person on the end of the line she is really, truly happy. She says she loves and wants nothing but the best for Drew (Travis Quentin Young), her new husband. She loves him. “I really love my husband,” Teresa repeats.
But who is she trying to convince? That is and remains the question as the couple set off for a romantic honeymoon in a secluded Panamanian locale. On the flight there, the couple encounters trouble involving a near-fatal peanut allergy and a keto bar. Fortunately for Teresa, the unfortunate author of the near mid-air disaster, her quick-thinking and charismatic husband comes to her and the third party’s rescue. This incident becomes a weird conversational recurrence, along with how Teresa and Drew originally met on Craigslist.
Their initial hours in the tropical paradise are breezy and uneventful. Still, there is something not quite right with Teresa. She is critical, overtly needy, emotionally all over the place, and obsessed with self-improvement ideas. Somewhere in the never-ending train of unrelated mental noise, she is frequently reminding herself that it’s her honeymoon, and it should be an adventure.
“…who is she trying to convince? That is and remains the question …”
It is the direct side effect of this thought process that sends the newlyweds down a spiraling path at the end, of which dire consequences await. But not before the emergence of the mysterious and androgynous Paz (Arta Gee), who lives and works on the island. Paz informs the couple that if they need anything, all they need to do is call. Everything moves at the “speed of nature” on the island, but all they need shall eventually be provided.
So, after this new visitor arrives and makes a resounding impression on the couple, Teresa presses Drew to consider having what she refers to as an “experience.” They are in a safe place, supposed to be undertaking the most magical time in their relationship, so why not be daring? Teresa is suggesting they engage in a threesome with the enigmatic Paz. Drew, meanwhile, is going through his own silent mental crisis, trying desperately to please Teresa, validate her self-worth, and continually pledge his love and support to all she desires.
I Really Love My Husband has a clever set of ingredients that catch fire in a film that does a fine job of walking the line between something wholesome covering a lurid secret. The central trio gives solid performances, and the script takes some interesting turns. The ultimate draw of the picture this lingering feeling that, just like with the central protagonist Teresa, there’s something not quite right regarding motives and motivation.
What I thought was going to turn into Six Days, Seven Nights meets The Beach, I Really Love My Husband instead builds up to something sinister and foreboding. Madison Lanesey invokes a personality that seems impulsive yet calculating enough to be capable of anything. There are moments of duplicity where she seems about to peak and show us the dark side, reminding us that there is happiness and also the ever-convincing illusion of happiness.
"…builds up to something sinister and foreboding."
