THE STORY – Liz and Malcolm escape for a romantic anniversary weekend at a secluded cabin. When Malcolm suddenly returns to the city, Liz finds herself isolated and in the presence of an unspeakable evil that reveals the cabin’s horrifying secrets.
THE CAST – Tatiana Maslany & Rossif Sutherland
THE TEAM – Osgood Perkins (Director) & Nick Lepard (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 99 Minutes
Acclaimed horror director Osgood Perkins (“Longlegs” and “The Monkey“) opens his latest film, “Keeper,” with a chilling montage of filmed images spanning decades. We see various women approached, lured, and ultimately murdered, their final moments captured through a first-person camera lens, but we do not know how they met their grisly fate. It is an unsettling sequence that immediately establishes the film’s central mystery: how did this happen, and why?
Liz (Tatiana Maslany), a writer, and Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland), a doctor, head to a secluded cabin that has been in Malcolm’s family for generations to get away for a weekend as a newly established couple. He’s a keeper, and through his adoration, Malcolm establishes to Liz that he believes she is one as well. When Malcolm suddenly returns to the city, Liz finds herself isolated and vulnerable in the cabin, with occasional visits from Malcolm’s obnoxious cousin, Darren (Birkett Turton). Alone in the cabin, Liz begins to uncover an unspeakable evil that reveals both the home’s horrifying history and the dark truth about her relationship with her new boyfriend.
As a director, Perkins continues to grow more confident with each film. His control over camera angles, lighting, and timing is meticulous, every choice carefully designed to draw out the maximum amount of fear from his audience. His precision behind the camera remains undeniable, and the same is true of “Keeper.” However, where “Keeper” falters is in its screenplay, the first Perkins has not written himself since “Gretel & Hansel.” Written by Nick Lepard, the story begins with a gripping premise that Perkins and Maslany elevate through their craft and emotional commitment. Unfortunately, as the plot unfolds, it struggles to deliver on its early promise satisfactorily, progressing at a slow-burning pace that ultimately fizzles out rather than exploding with terrifying impact. The twist can be spotted far in advance, and the deeper mythology surrounding the haunted cabin, much like the third-act reveal in “Longlegs,” is a bit of a letdown, hindering the film’s overall pacing since much of the runtime is devoted to slowly building up to the third act. The result is a horrifying relationship drama that is visually impressive, well-crafted, and well-performed by Maslany, but narratively underwhelming, putting it somewhere in the middle of Perkins’ eclectically received filmography.
Maslany remains an indisputable highlight, though. After receiving a bit role in Perkins’ other 2025 horror film “The Monkey,” the Emmy Award-winning actress leads this film, guiding us through waves of Liz’s confusion, frustration, and desperation with grounded emotion that is relatable and deeply felt. Sutherland has a difficult balance to strike, though, as Malcolm. He must be warm and caring yet possibly sinister enough to make us question his intentions. Sutherland does not fully succeed, as both he and Perkins reveal too much too early, undercutting much of the film’s tension, even if it replaces it with a new kind of tension, all leading to the big reveal as to what is actually going on inside the house and why Liz is there to begin with. The result is a ghost story that spends most of its 99-minute runtime building toward a conclusion that aims to please but may still come across as underwhelming for those expecting something more visceral and intense. If the third act works for you, the buildup will feel justified. If it does not, the journey will feel like an elaborate setup for a payoff that never arrives or doesn’t quite scratch the bloodthirsty desire for something more substantial.
Even with these shortcomings, Perkins’ craftsmanship continues to evolve and evoke the proper emotions he aims for as a horror filmmaker. His strategic use of dark humor releases tension just long enough to make the next scare more effective. There is a distinct pleasure in watching him toy with the audience’s expectations, setting up what feels like a jump scare only to prolong the suspense even further and possibly not even deliver on the jolt of adrenaline, which may frustrate some viewers but can be quite effective. Scenes such as Liz finding a watch in the garbage disposal or taking a bath alone while someone (or something) watches her are well-conceived and executed examples of controlled dread. However, such an emphasis on the film’s atmosphere and tone will only go so far if you don’t deliver on what audiences are truly coming to see in your movie. Editors Graham Fortin and Greg Ng do deserve credit for their hypnotic use of cross-dissolves (a technique filmmakers could and should be utilizing more today), which creates a foreboding dreamlike sense of time and nightmarish images, casting a spell over the audience that lures us in as much as Liz has been lured into this predicament. The third act also features some truly outstanding practical effects and old age makeup, while the restrained use of visual effects keeps the supernatural elements grounded and from feeling too hokey.
“Keeper” may not be as deeply horrifying as “Longlegs” or as darkly funny as “The Monkey.” Still, it demonstrates Perkins’ continued evolution as a filmmaker. He refuses to make the same movie twice, using horror as a way to explore new stories, emotional territory, and deploy new tones and techniques. Operating at a rate now of putting out at least one film a year and nearly a decade after his directorial debut, “The Blackcoat’s Daughter,” Perkins remains one of the most fascinating voices in modern horror, even if “Keeper” is not quite a keeper in his filmography.
