Keeper (2025)

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/keeper-review/

"Keeper is that type of movie whose personal opinion improves the more one reflects on it.

Powerful, atmospheric, and visually impactful, it not only confirms Osgood Perkins' talent in constructing dense horror environments but also features a top-tier performance from Tatiana Maslany, as well as truly unforgettable VFX-makeup work. It's psychological and folkloric horror that elevates relational toxicity to a plane of physical horror and leaves us thinking about the dynamics of control long after the lights come up.

It's a chilling descent into the nature of coercion, reminding us that the deepest terror resides in the shadows we accept and the creatures hiding within them."

Rating: B

“Liz” (Tatiana Maslany) heads into the wilderness with her doctor boyfriend “Malcolm” (Rossif Sutherland) for a weekend of fun and frolicking. He has a rather more sophisticated residence than the usual cabin in the woods, and he also has a cousin who lives next door (Birkett Turton) but she is assured that he won’t bother them on their getaway. Everything seems to be going fine, they’ve even got a chocolate cake left by the caretaker, but when he has to go back into the city for a medical emergency and leave her alone for the day - well, things start going bump in the day. Is it the cake, or the red wine she has consumed? Is it just the wind rustling the foliage or her vivid imagination? Is it the enigmatic cousin “Darren”? Well, when “Malcolm” returns it soon transpires that virtually nothing in this idyllic location is as it seems, and things for her start to look fairly ominous. Technically, this is quite a spooky thriller with innovative photography and some clever use of acoustics and shadow. The story, on the other hand, is really very thin and neither actor at the sharp end of this drama really engage at all. We wait for about eighty minutes of not a lot, before a conclusion that I felt was hastily arrived at and a bit of a let down - unless maybe you were some sort of gruesome “Winnie the Pooh” after an encounter with “Grendel”. The woods are the gift that keep on giving for this mystical horror genre, but we still need some meat on the bones of the characters if we are to care one way or the other, and this is largely devoid of that.

Not quite what it presents itself to be.
This movie takes a while to find its feet, but once it does, it does so running. It builds a scary setting and a creepy vibe straight away, but then becomes something else entirely. It does so very well, and the casting is perfect for the roles. At times it feels meandering, almost to the point of nonsensical, but when you look back at the movie you realize that this is very deliberate and necessary to build the tension the way that it does. It's a solid enough movie with a few very lovely reveals.

64/100

Spending time at her new boyfriend's cabin in the woods, Liz experiences a macabre weekend. Story wise, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's really weird and left me sort of scratching my head. However, the setting is gorgeous, the visuals were striking and quite creepy and the atmosphere is never really normal giving one a constant sense of unease. My highest praise goes to Tatiana Maslany for an absolutely outstanding performance as Liz. She completely carried this film and had me absolutely enthralled throughout. Worth watching just for her. -- DrNostromo.com