Keeper (2025)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Fog Cabin

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Osgood Perkins's surreal horror tale Keeper finds the filmmaker at the height of his powers, using space and rhythm for maximum creepy impact; unfortunately, the script can't sustain the mood all the way.

Liz (Tatiana Maslany) has been dating Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) for a year, and things seem to be going well. In fact, he has invited her for a weekend at his cabin in the woods. The cabin is beautiful, and the mood is romantic, until Malcolm's loudmouth cousin Darren (Birkett Turton) shows up with his date, model Minka (Eden Weiss).

The next day, Malcolm, a doctor, has an emergency and must rush back into town, leaving Liz alone. She begins to experience strange dreams, thinks she's hearing things, and starts to feel very unsettled. Things get worse when Darren arrives again.

With Keeper, Perkins must have been attracted to the idea of the large, beautiful cabin, all bay windows with views of the forest and a river, odd angles, various levels, and walls and corners that don't seem to connect. Despite spending most of the movie inside it, it's impossible to know its geography. He uses all this space to constrict the characters, or create unsettling empty spots behind them.

Certain moments recall David Lynch at his most surreal, which is not an easy feat. The creepy things that lurk about are, indeed, spine-tingling; the creature design is inspired. Best of all is that we have two fine actors at the center, especially Maslany, who is often by herself, and manages to compel in every second. (She proved on her series Orphan Black that she could just about play any type of character under the sun.)

The movie's biggest drawback comes, almost inevitably, during the third act when it feels the need to explain everything that has happened so that not even a shadow of doubt remains. It's a mood-killer. Fortunately, Keeper still manages to conjure up a zinger of an ending.