Reviews
Keeper
It is a pretty common occurrence for taglines on movie posters to be overexaggerated or, in some cases, completely untrue, but when you see the words “from the twisted mind of Osgood Perkins,” credit where it is due, they have absolutely nailed it. With his new movie Keeper, the third he has released in eighteen months, that pattern continues, and in many ways this might be the craziest of the lot. And just like Longlegs and The Monkey before it, Keeper is going to inspire people. Some will fall head over heels for it and others will loathe every single second, but if you know me, you already know exactly which camp I fall into.
A huge amount of praise also needs to go to Neon, who have managed to keep the premise of Keeper under wraps as much as possible. I can’t say the marketing is flawless, because the movie has what might be the most jarring trailer of the year, but unlike most it gives almost nothing away. Going into an Osgood Perkins film completely blind is about as close as you can get to stepping into a brand new haunted house. You could be in for anything and everything, and it’s that paranoid, tense, and eerie atmosphere that Perkins’ name alone conjures, that I’m happy to say, the movie more than lives up to.
Of course I don’t want to give away any spoilers, because where is the fun in that, so I will keep the synopsis deliberately vague. The movie follows Liz (Tatiana Maslany), a city girl by nature, who agrees to a weekend trip with her boyfriend of one year, Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland), to his family’s secluded cabin in the forest. Now I do not know about you, but a year into a relationship feels a little too soon to agree to a cabin in the woods, because that is practically inviting trouble. In fact, I am not even sure that if my wife suggested it to me now I would agree, because I have seen how this story goes one too many times.
As you would expect, the cabin is freaky from the moment Liz arrives. It has hundreds of windows, no curtains, no shades, and it gives the feeling almost immediately that she is being watched. If that’s not bad enough, while the couple share a romantic meal, Malcolm’s weird and slightly sleazy cousin Darren (Birkett Turton) turns up with the latest in what seems to be a long line of girlfriends, offers a few awkward and derogatory comments, and then disappears as quickly as he arrived.
At this point, just as things finally look like they might turn a little more frisky in line with a romantic getaway, the mood is abruptly interrupted as Malcolm decides now is the perfect moment for a cake Liz must try, baked by the mysterious “caretaker”. Yes, you read that right. A cake. Now I don’t know about you, but if I am about to get intimate and someone insists that I try some random caretaker’s cake, the last thing I am doing is eating that cake. Unfortunately for Liz she does, and that is when Keeper begins its slide into something far worse.
Thanks to Perkins’ direction and Jeremy Cox’s cinematography, every shot in the following acts feels deliberate and meaningful. The wide frames keep audiences constantly on the lookout for things lurking in the distance, creating an overwhelming sense that Liz is being watched, which is sure to leave even the most hearty viewer feeling uneasy. What starts as a fairly large and expansive cabin gradually begins to feel far more claustrophobic, especially when Liz is left alone as Malcolm has to leave for a work emergency. It’s during this time that Perkins allows the supernatural beings glimpsed in the trailers to take centre stage. What they are exactly is central to the mystery that unfolds throughout the film, but their presence alone is enough to send shivers down your spine.
It’s at this point that Liz begins to piece everything together and that the true terrors around her might not be these mysterious beings after all. Keeper, is perhaps at its very best here. Instead of faltering like many horror movies before it, the slow build of disturbing tension throughout the film pays off in a satisfyingly strange but intense final act, delivering an extremely gratifying culmination and a final scene that left me grinning from ear to ear with pure glee.
Maslany is undoubtedly the highlight of the film, carrying every single scene like a seasoned veteran. She is fully committed to the character, and her fear and emotional turmoil come across with remarkable clarity. It would be easy to say that Keeper would not be the same without her, and that is absolutely true. But credit also has to go to the casting team, who made a flawless decision in choosing her, as she is the perfect actor for this role.
When I saw the review embargo for Keeper lift just a few hours ago, I have to admit I was worried. But how wrong I was, and I am so pleased to say it. With this movie and his last two mainstream horror films, all so different from each other yet each brilliant in their own way, Osgood Perkins is cementing himself as one of the genre’s brightest working directors today. He may not be for everyone, and this movie will be no exception to that rule, but my goodness, he has something truly special.
