If there are two aspects of horror films that Osgood Perkins always nails, it's atmosphere and actors. Is this all that's necessary for a great horror film? That depends on the person, their tastes, and how much of their time (and money) they're willing to give. A well-constructed tone and a committed performance can be enough to stir the fearful emotions and ride any slim narrative wave.
Keeper is Perkins’ third film in two years, an impressive number for any filmmaker. The more darkly comedic The Monkey, based on a Stephen King short story, is more the anomaly in the filmmaker’s œuvre. Keeper is more in keeping (no pun intended) with Longlegs and his other films: brilliant work in cinematography, sound, pacing, and keeping its audience terrified by anticipation, while perhaps not paying quite so much attention to story.
Liz (Tatiana Maslany) is going for a getaway to the family cabin of her boyfriend Malcom (Rossif Sutherland). Well, cabin might not quite be the right word: this is quite an impressive house, well situated far from any neighbours bar Malcom’s ‘asshole’ cousin. A friend of Liz’s is not convinced that Malcolm has told the whole truth about himself (suspecting he might be married), but Liz has faith in this fresh love.
A faith that starts to wan when first he allows his cousin Darren (Birkett Turton) and his date Minka (Eden Weiss) in for a quick drink, interrupting their romantic dinner. Malcolm then insists she try a piece of the chocolate cake left by the year-round caretaker, even though she tells him that she doesn’t like chocolate. Not even bothering to cover his action by cutting a piece for himself, he stands over her to make sure she takes a bite. Awakening in the night, she makes her way downstairs and proceeds to devour the rest of the dessert.
The weirdness began even before the strange night, however, and Perkins and his team know how to keep a camera lingering just long enough, have a sound mix just right, and a character in the shot slowly getting scared that the fears flows to us. Liz knows that something isn’t right with this place, or is it just that she’s a city girl, not entirely convinced that she isn’t the other woman, and in an isolated environment in an open-concept house with just about nowhere to hide? Perkins knows how to heighten the uncanny feeling of this kind of horror that sets us on edge far more quickly and intensely than usual.
Is it in the walls, or the forest? Is Malcolm aware of what seems to be stalking Liz, or does he just have an unpleasant but not dangerous secret he's trying to hide from his lover? Are Liz's doubts paranoia, or induced by whatever was in the cake, or is there a monster? Perkins keeps us on that knife's edge, with every shot we are looking in every corner of the screen for movement, with every close-up of Malcolm we're trying to guess what's behind his eyes, what truth he is keeping from her, since it's clear he's not good at keeping secrets, nor does he have the stomach for what violence that is to come.
Maslany is everything in this film. If the plot is a little thin, then she is the foundation, the glue, the method for making it work. Liz is clearly smart, but love has her suppressing the instinct to speak out a little more. She understands when she might be in danger, but that politeness and willingness to compromise that a patriarchal society hammers into every woman, gets the better of her. She makes understandable mistakes and bad if also understandable decisions, even as we want to yell at her to get out, however possible. And when the reveal, each piece of the jigsaw placed on the table until the somewhat unpredictable but not unsurprising picture is before us, her reaction bores into our souls. Each step takes her through confusion, anger, despair, and madness, and we are her constant companions. She is thoroughly believable in this impossible scenario.
Without going too much into spoiler territory, there is terrific work in how the piece-by-piece reveal of the truth unfolds, with work not only from the cinematography and sound design team, but performers as well. Perkins knows how to work with what's in the shadows, what we just miss in our periphery vision, how the ancient instincts in our DNA will tell our ears and eyes to watch for danger, even if we think it is deceiving us.
Horror boasts a wide range in its fandom, but arguably, if you're not already a Perkins fan, then baring Maslany's stellar performance, this is not the film of his with which to begin. But if you're already a fan, love a slow-build of terror, a terrific heroine who is caught between her instinct and her love, monsters in the shadows and an old curse, Keeper will satisfy that itch.
Keeper opens in the USA and Canada on Friday, November 14th.