Keeper
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Osgood Perkins has established himself as a unique voice in horror with his films Longlegs and more recently The Monkey. Now he is back again with his latest film Keeper from Dangerous Animals writer Nick Lepard starring Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland. Could this film offer another unique experience that fans have come to expect from Perkins, or will it not be worth keeping?
Keeper follows a couple who heads out to an extravagant cabin in the woods, owned by the boyfriend, for a weekend getaway. Things start off perfectly--there's a gift cake from the caretaker, a romantic dinner--but when the boyfriend's cousin unexpectedly stops by, the atmosphere shifts. As the weekend unravels, the girlfriend begins to wonder if everything is really as it seems.
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I have become a huge fan of Osgood Perkins so anything he does I am all in. This latest film might be the most decisive for me as I fully enjoyed the overall tone and end result of the film, but it does run a bit slowly at times clearly by design. The film sets things up like a simple romantic getaway which we all know never ends well. Even before we get to the house things are clearly off, but it’s hard to decide if it is trouble in their relationship or something more. This is part of the issue for me initially but also feels like it feeds into the bigger narrative in the end.
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There are a lot of moments that made me confused to why she is behaving and reacting the way she was, but it becomes clear to the message here especially when all is revealed. It give you just enough of the emotional and personal issues brought to the forefront to keep you guess along with a variety of horror tropes
that have you second guessing what’s really going on. I loved the calm nature to how it is all explained and revealed with it likely not going in the direction you expect which for me was a good thing.
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It added a level of redemption into the horror that after the emotional journey we are taken on felt justified for the character and audience. Everyone is great here, but it’s Tatiana Maslany who carries the full weight of the film and knocks it out of the park. This is the kind of film that won’t work for everyone as it is a slow build, and the ending is pretty out there. While it might be my least favorite of his films so far, I still enjoyed it and appreciate the big swings in idea and scope to bring something different to the genre.
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Decide for yourself and check out Keeper available now on 4K and Blu-ray from NEON.