SXSW REVIEW: ‘I Really Love My Husband’ Is Messy Paradise

When you repeat something over and over again, the only person you’re trying to convince is yourself. That’s the focus of I Really Love My Husband. Directed and written by G.G. Hawkins, this messy look at flawed people and their decaying marriage on a honey acceleration stars Madison Lanesey, Travis Quentin Young, Arta Gee, Lisa Jacqueline Starrett, Elizabeth de Robbins, Armodio Sophia, Meggan Taylor, Mitch Bisschop, and Amberlin Morse.

While the honeymooning period is something to always worry about falling out of, Teresa (Madison Lanesey) and Drew (Travis Quentin Young) are hoping their delayed honeymoon a year into their marriage in the tropical paradise of Bocas del Toro, Panamá, will fix their frustrations that are bubbling just beneath the surface. The hope is this trip will showcase just how much they love each other and become the highest point in their time together. 

But when the couple gets to paradise, Teresa starts to see Drew differently. He’s kind, he’s a people-pleaser, and he literally saves someone on the plane. He is the epitome of the golden retriever partner, and ultimately, his goodness starts to cast an encroaching shadow on her rough edges.

As Teresa becomes more anxious, paradise starts to reveal just how different they really are. With their daily life thrown to the wayside, Drew and Teresa have to confront their feelings. Or, you know, maybe have a threesome with Paz (Arta Gee), the non-binary ex-pat who guides the couple through the island. Who’s to say which avenue is healthier?

I Really Love My Husband is all about how paradise fixes your flaws.

When Teresa recommends getting closer to Paz to rebuild the dying chemistry between them and spice up their trip, she starts to realize that her selfishness and anxieties may be the problem. Everything Drew does begins to burrow under her skin. Everything he does right begins to be internalized as something she has done wrong. And despite sabotaging their attempt at a throuple in paradise by pushing Drew toward Paz, she can’t seem to handle it when the connection she was obsessed with and pushed starts to deepen.

I Really Love My Husband is a practice in patience. As Teresa’s flaws start to come deeper into focus and her insecurities start to move from a simmer to a boil, the uncomfortable tension starts to build. She is unlikeable, but her insecurities are so deeply embedded and ignored that it’s hard not to see tiny bits of your own worst qualities in yourself.

Teresa isn’t a bad person; she’s just not Drew. She has flaws, she is messy, and she needs other people to be, too. But Teresa taking out her own insecurities on the man she keeps telling herself she loves is perhaps the most relatable thing that she does in the film. When you hate yourself so much, you can’t stand when anyone, let alone someone you’re close to, is better or gets more love. And as Drew gets closer to Paz, that’s clear.

While the film hits an emotional high, the time it takes to get there is significant. The slow journey isn’t for those who can’t lock in for a slice-of-life tale, and even then, it’s a snail’s pace. Still, I Really Love My Husband has something to say,  and you should listen.

I Really Love My Husband is simple and slow. To understand it is to revel in being uncomfortable. It’s about how you can’t run away from a mess, and sometimes you can’t fix things. Ultimately, it is absolutely impossible to love someone else if you refuse to confront the reasons why you don’t love yourself.

I Really Love My Husband screened as a part of the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.