Unconscious Uncoupling; Magnet Ties Knot with Leigh Janiak’s Honeymoon

Despite SXSW not be the wheeling and dealing epicentre that Sundance is in terms of theatrical pick-ups, we can still expect to see a flurry of post fest deals from 2014’s SXSW line-up. Deadline reports that the oft buyer Magnolia Pictures is adding more to their Magnet slate with a genre item purchase — first time helmer Leigh Janiak sees her Honeymoon (not to be confused Jan Hřebejk’s 2013 film) move from fest premieres at SXSW to Tribeca to an eventual theatrically release later this year.

Gist: Co-written by Phil Graziadei and Janiak, young newlyweds Paul (Harry Treadaway) and Bea (Rose Leslie) travel to remote lake country for their honeymoon where the promise of private romance awaits them. Shortly after arriving, Paul finds Bea wandering and disoriented in the middle of the night. As she becomes more distant and her behavior increasingly peculiar, Paul begins to suspect something more sinister than sleepwalking took place in the woods.

Worth Noting: In an interview with Filmmaker Mag, Janiak cites Monsters and Tiny Furniture as major influences in her move into feature film.

Do We Care?: Magnolia’s Eamonn Bowles calls this “an auspicious debut from the very talented Leigh Janiak, who has a preternatural mastery of tone and mounting dread, not to mention a deft hand with actors.” We’ll be looking out for it.