Chattanooga Film Fest 2025 Review: I Really Love My Husband

I Really Love My Husband – Lust, Loyalty, and the Lies We Tell Ourselves

★★★½☆ (3.5 out of 5)

By Travis Brown

G.G. Hawkins’ I Really Love My Husband is the kind of film that slides under your skin with a smile and leaves you squirming in your seat—mostly because it’s too real, too honest, and way too easy to recognize yourself in its characters. A romantic dramedy with teeth, this one turns a poly-curious honeymoon into an unexpectedly sharp dissection of modern love, sexual curiosity, and the quietly aching hunger that lives inside even the happiest of marriages.

Madison Lanesey is magnetic as Teresa, a thirtysomething wife on her long-overdue honeymoon with her sweet, steady husband Drew (Travis Quentin Young). Their resort escape seems idyllic, until they meet the effortlessly charming Paz (Arta G.), an island guide who becomes the third point in what starts as a sensual experiment and slowly mutates into something more unstable—and far more revealing.

While the setup flirts with fantasy, the film’s true power lies in its emotional precision. I Really Love My Husband isn’t about threesomes or shock value. It’s about what happens when intimacy gets cracked open and the people involved are forced to examine what’s underneath. What do we really want? What are we hiding behind politeness, loyalty, or the illusion of fulfillment?

Hawkins doesn’t shy away from tough conversations—about desire, betrayal, resentment, and the kind of slow-burn dissatisfaction that creeps into long-term love. But she also handles it all with humor, grace, and—most importantly—respect for her characters. The film is refreshingly sex-positive without ever slipping into sleaze, and every performance feels fully lived-in, especially Lanesey’s nuanced portrayal of a woman teetering between self-discovery and self-destruction.

I Really Love My Husband isn’t a provocation—it’s a mirror. And what makes it compelling is that it doesn’t tell you what to think. It just dares you to ask questions. And when the lights come back on, those questions stay with you.

Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Bold, honest, and emotionally intelligent, I Really Love My Husband is a refreshingly candid portrait of modern desire and the blurred lines of loyalty. G.G. Hawkins is one to watch.