Keeper (2025) Dir: Osgood Perkins

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If there's one time and tested way to attract an audience to your film, it's through the marketing, and one of the most vital elements of that is the trailers. Now, this supernatural horror was directed by Osgood Perkins, the man behind both 'Longlegs', which I loved, and 'The Monkey', which I didn't - so, really, I had no idea whether I'd enjoy it or not - but what I did know is that the initial trailer had hooked me instantly. There's something to be said about a trailer that can do that without revealing half the plot of the film. I digress, I went into the cinema knowing very little about the film, which suited me just fine.

As it pertained to the cinematography, I thought the film was quietly gorgeous and satisfying to look at. There was a sublime piece of superimposition early on involving a bath and a river. In fact, just about all of the shots involving moving water and the woodland environment were generally quite pretty. The cabin setting was aesthetically appealing, which was juxtaposed effectively by its isolated and rural location - a classic setting choice for horror films.

Unfortunately, though, the easiest way to sum up this film was to call it style over substance. It looked great, but the story was full of well-trodden horror tropes and a generally bland narrative - I really wanted the film to try something a little different, and for a while it felt like it was, but that didnt end up being the case. The unveiling of the film's big twist was a little underwhelming - it felt like a whole lot of build-up for a reveal that felt like it had been done so many times already, and after such a long-feeling film, it just didn't quite cut it for me.

One thing that I couldn't fault about the film was lead actress Tatiana Maslany. She was expressive, interesting, and, ultimately, a worthy and compelling protagonist. I think she elevated the last act quite significantly, because without her it would have felt even more anticlimactic. It was very easy to route for her as a character, particularly in the second half of the film, despite its relatively disappointing storyline developments. In fact, I would argue her performance elevated the rest of the film too - she was extremely solid.

If this film were purely being judged on the first two thirds of its runtime, I'd have exclusively praise for the performance of Maslany's co-star; Rossif Sutherland. He suited his character down to the bone, and very much seemed at home in the film's cabin setting. However, his acting in the final third of the film, much like the narrative, slumped in quality, ultimately feeling hollow and lacking. Neither Birkett Turton or Eden Weiss were in the film very much, and I ended up being happy about that. I did not care for either of their performances, particularly Weiss, who felt like a parody character who had walked into the wrong film. It was jarring.

Overall, whilst I really appreciated the cinematography of the film, I was left so unsatisfied by the story underneath. The commendable performance of Tatiana Maslany was not quite enough to make the increasingly predictable twists and turns of the film feel worth it, but she did at least give it a good go. For a film that, for me at least, promised so much from both its teasers and its first half, it ended up missing the mark with its main reveal. It came across like it thought it was being a whole lot smarter than it was, which is never a good sign. At least it looked pretty good, though.