How far can love go in fixing the degenerate self? This question is the linchpin behind I Really Love My Husband. The directorial debut of G.G. Hawkins (who co-wrote the film with its star Madison Lanesey), it initially premiered at The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film & TV Festival on March 7, 2025, and is a relatable yet awkward film that explores the depressing possibilities of the honeymoon phase and places the viewer into a marriage that has lifted off from its supposedly sweet beginnings.
A year after their marriage, Teresa (Madison Lanesey: Paradox Lost 2020) and Drew (Travis Quentin Young: Who Killed Cooper Dunn? 2022, Momma’s Boy 2024) are finally taking their honeymoon trip to Panama and have rented out a cabin through their host, Paz (Arta Gee). When intimate feelings rise in Teresa’s mind for the host, things take an unexpected turn, and the tropical landscape frames an all-but-picturesque story.
Starting with the first scene, I Really Love My Husband is character-driven and relies on dialogue and subtlety to move forward. Only two plot points in the film feel entirely out of the main characters’ control. This narrative approach requires realistic and relatable characters for the audience to connect to. Teresa and Drew’s characters are realistic, and their ending feels justified, but something is off.
The characters are complex to like, and they each have awkward quirks that coordinate with the dysfunctional relationship at the film’s heart. Drew and Teresa’s marriage has lost its spark, but the audience never sees it, only in the first scene, which dives headfirst into Teresa calling her ex on her wedding day. The audience may struggle to find a character to root for due to lack of backstory, but the point is to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of love, not to create expansive characters to fall in love with. What is important is how the characters incorrectly approach intimacy. They see it as a one-time event meant to change their lives wholly.
I Really Love My Husband makes fun of modern hypocrites; it does this by using a complete bitch of a hypocrite main character and shoving her into increasingly upsetting situations until she cracks. Searching for outward validation through social media and falling short constantly, it is awkward and funny to watch Teresa’s character arc in this film. Although a viewer is not rooting for her success, watching her failure feels crude. She has turned to trendy lifestyle fads to support her mental health and masks her fears of incompatibility with her husband instead of digging deeper into her own life. She is nothing more than a victim of the contemporary world. An interesting character; however, the viewer does not know what has led Teresa to this point in life; the film does not attempt to explore the past.
The special sauce of this film is the nonbinary host of the rental home, Paz. This seductive androgynous character captures the minds of Drew and Teresa, who are searching for something new after a year of marriage, which has only accentuated their differences. They see Paz as a lighthouse calling them back to shore. Eventually, their ship does find salvation and arrives back on sandy beaches. Paz means peace in Spanish, but it could be short for passive because this character inhabits the island mentality and constantly emanates a chill and spaced-out mood.
When conflict arrives, Paz finds a way out unscathed and is detached from anyone else’s reality except their own. Paz does not even explain their actions; another of their lovers does that for the viewer in a scene of drunken enlightenment for Teresa. The intimacy Drew and Teresa are searching for is found with Paz, someone who seems to be emotionally available to anyone and everyone. Paz is not to blame, but it does not mean they are not at fault. Their actions cause the most revelation, providing a form of false salvation to the struggling marriage at hand and ripping it away.
Most indie films have a scene involving drug usage, and this one is no different. I Really Love My Husband introduces the topic cohesively and opts for a humanist view of drug usage rather than indulging in special effects or filters. The sparse soundtrack does wonders here. The silence throughout most of the film provides the tranquil awkwardness of vacation, but in this scene, the music guides the characters to dance and embrace one another. The googly eyeglasses on the dock are a fun way of showing the altered state of mind without going over the top.
Many scenes, especially the beginning scene, provide minimal context and leave the viewer searching for more meaning while watching an uncomfortable confrontation. The characters are awkward and not fully fleshed out. The attentive viewer is not rewarded and gives up on finding an enlightening understanding of Drew and Teresa’s actions, becoming a spectator watching the film without interacting with it.
Love is a complex topic to conquer, and in I Really Love My Husband, there is a good amount of punch but not enough wind-up to warn the viewer of what should or could be causing this turmoil. That is why Cryptic Rock gives this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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