I didn’t really understand what I was watching for a good portion of this film, and I don’t mean that in a clever, ‘this is layered’ kind of way. I mean genuinely confused. This is one of those slow-burn horror films that demands patience, and focus, unfortunately for me, it lost me more than once. I slept through it, not once, not twice. And each time I woke up, I had to rewind and ask myself, “Okay, where exactly are we now?”
Despite the sleep hurdles, I pushed through because I needed to be sure. I needed to know whether the confusion was intentional or if the film just wasn’t connecting with me.
Synopsis
Directed by Osgood Perkins, Keeper leans heavily into atmosphere more than it does clarity. It follows Liz (Tatiana Maslany) and her boyfriend, Dr. Malcolm Westbridge (Rossif Sutherland), who take a trip to a remote cabin to celebrate their anniversary. From the moment they arrive, something does feel off, subtly and as the film progresses, there are more unsettling scenes that creep under your skin.
Tatiana Maslany is easily the strongest thing about this film. She acts with her whole being, even when the script gives her very little to work with. Her expressions carry the fear, confusion, and emotional weight of the story, and honestly, without her, I don’t think I would have made it to the end. She grounds the film in reality when everything else feels like it’s floating just out of reach.
The problem, for me, is that this film seems far more interested in its mood than meaning. Scenes absolutely drag and moments repeat themselves. Strange things happen without enough emotional or narrative payoff to justify the wait. There’s a lot of staring, a lot of silence, a lot of ‘something bad is about to happen’ energy but not enough actual progression.
And yes, I understand that this is intentional. It’s obviously a psychological horror and it’s supposed to feel disorienting. But there’s a thin line between unsettling and exhausting, and trust me this one crosses it a few times. At some point, many points actually, I stopped feeling tension and started feeling sleepy, which is never a good sign for a horror film.
The relationship between Liz and Malcolm also didn’t fully land for me. If not for Maggie, Liz’s friend, I wouldn’t have known their relationship was a year old because it felt distant, like a 2 weeks relationship, which had no purpose. I kept waiting for their emotional connection to deepen or fracture in a meaningful way, but instead, it stayed oddly flat, making it harder to care about the danger surrounding them.
By the time the film reached its ending, I understood what it was trying to say more than I felt what it was trying to make me feel. The conclusion is very much open to interpretation, and while I think some peeps will appreciate that ambiguity, I personally felt like I had done a lot of work for very little emotional payoff.
That said, I won’t call this film a bad film. It’s just not an engaging one, at least not for me. It’s slow, moody, atmospheric and intentionally opaque. Therefore, if you’re someone who enjoys sitting in discomfort, piecing together meaning from fragments and letting a film wash over you rather than explain itself, you might appreciate what it’s doing.
As for me? I had to finish it out of obligation, not immersion.
Rating: 5.8/10.
It’s got a strong performance, an interesting mood, but too meandering and unclear to fully hold my attention.