Not all documentaries have to be about something depressing or historical events and often times the ones focused on real people doing real things end up being the most interesting. The latest, See the Keepers: Inside the Zoo gives viewers a peek inside a job that has a lot more misconceptions and dangers than you might think.

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See the Keepers is a pretty by the numbers documentary and never tries to veer away from that, but instead just lets these hardworking people tell their stories. I enjoyed the approach of the film taking us on a journey of not only what the job entails which is so much more than just cleaning the cages, but also of some of the people themselves. This is a simple story that doesn’t offer up anything overly excited or any kind of drama, but instead just normal people giving you a chance to peek behind the curtain of what they do. There is clearly a misunderstanding to what these caretakers actual do and hearing some of the stories on how they are treated by the visitors to the zoo as well as the little pay they get for doing this job is just sad. They do so much more than just clean up the cages and here we get to see what they really do for these animals and the true love and care they have for them. It is just as interesting to see the passion they have for their jobs and hearing what they go through you quickly understand that this is more than a job to them.

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While this film isn’t breaking down any barriers in documentary filmmaking it is taking viewers behind the caged curtain to see a world that everyone has visited in a unique way and the people that keep it that way.