Isolated in a remote cabin, a woman begins experiencing visions and contradictions that turn reality into a nightmare.
Experimental, uncomfortable, but utterly confused. Writer Nick Lepard, director Ozgood Perkins, and Neon developed Keeper with unease rather than explanation in mind. See the opening sequence, for example: the music doesn’t match the visuals, and vice versa. Instantly, you don’t know what to expect or how to feel – hence, the unease. And that feeling follows you throughout both acts. As for the third one, well, you’ll see for yourselves.
The film constantly pits image against sound, destabilising perception and forcing the viewer into a state of quiet alertness. Add a cabin in the woods to that equation, and the promise of safety is already cracked before the story even settles.
Confusion is not a byproduct here – it’s kind of a design. What is wrong with her? Why does she behave this way? Why do other women seem to recognise something in her visions? Is this presence psychological, supernatural, symbolic, or all of the above? The film throws questions like bait and rarely offers clean answers. Even seemingly random elements, like the fish, carry a sense of wrongness, as if the world itself is slightly misaligned.
Tatiana Maslany anchors the film with a performance that is anything but ordinary, even when the character tries to be. She is astonishing not because she overplays, but because she doesn’t. The tension lives in what she withholds. Again, you’ll see for yourselves.
Personally, though, what truly unsettles is not the ambiguity of the threat, but the clarity of one idea: the terror of physical power used as control. The most disturbing moments are not supernatural but real – when a man physically prevents a woman from acting simply because he can. Masculinity here is not heroic or even tragic; it is depicted as toxic, coercive, and at times criminally unhinged. And the way I interpret it is that the horror isn’t that this force exists – it’s that it’s recognisable.
Perkins has openly described Keeper as an experiment, deliberately distinct from Longlegs (2024) and The Monkey (2025). That intention is evident. The film resists conventional pacing, resolution, and catharsis. For viewers open to mood-driven, interpretive horror, that can be invigorating. For others, it may feel withholding or nonsensical to the point of frustration.
And that raises the unavoidable question: who is this film for? Who is any film for? There is a fine balance between artistic identity and audience engagement. Horror fans seek experimentation, yes – but they also seek some form of satisfaction, and studios seek return. Perkins walks a tightrope with the kind of cinema he has chosen, and while his films are bold, they are also risky.
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