“Keeper” A Slow-Burn Horror That Had Potential Yet Really Falls Flat

Over the past couple years, director Osgood Perkins has directed a few horror movies that have received mixed, highly polarized reactions from critics and audiences - “Longlegs,” “The Monkey”, and the topic of this review, “Keeper.” While his distinct visual style and slow-burn atmosphere draw praise, viewers often feel divided over his unconventional pacing and polarizing narrative payoffs. So, now, let’s get into his latest effort that was released last November and seemed to be quickly forgotten - “Keeper.”

The 2025 movie follows artist Liz and her boyfriend Malcolm on a romantic one year anniversary weekend at a secluded family cabin that turns into a surreal, terrifying descent into madness and ancient evil.

When I started watching “Keeper,” I knew it was going to be a slow-burn just like his last couple movies. While it does take quite a while for something to really happen, the isolated cabin setting can really feel scary at times as it provides a tight, claustrophobic sense of isolation that effectively builds tension.

I definitely have to give actress Tatiana Maslany a big shout out for her performance as Liz. Throughout the movie, you can see that she has the ability to convey immense dread and intense anxiety through silent facial work. Maslany also does an incredible job portraying the terrifying psychological transition from a woman trying to ignore her “gut instincts” to someone realizing her partner is actively gaslighting her. Her performance pretty much single-handedly anchors the movie, even during some of the slower moments.

Now, while the third act does get better, even though it does leave quite a few questions unanswered, the first two acts of “Keeper” really drags (even though the tension-filled

moments can make up for it). 

There’s even a clunky, long exposition dump (it’s like a five or six minute scene) in the third act that pretty much spells out everything that’s going on and it honestly ruins the mysterious tone that the movie did have. While the exposition dump almost ruins the final act, without spoiling anything, it does go into folk horror territory that can get intriguing, despite the fact the entire payoff is sort of “mid” at best.

The overall response to Osgood Perkins’ 2025 folk horror movie “Keeper” has been highly mixed and polarizing from both critics and general audiences. While it was praised for its intense atmosphere and visual design, it has faced heavy criticism for its narrative and lack of a satisfying payoff.

MPA: Rated R for some violent content/gore, language, and some sexual references   (runtime 99 minutes)

Initial release date: November 14, 2025

Streaming services: Hulu/various PVOD services   (as of working on this review)

https://youtu.be/cwpusY785l4?si=Dd_RpfN75VRljBV_

• The first teaser for Keeper was secretly screened in a post-credits stinger during select showings of The Monkey, leading audiences to speculate months before the official trailer release.

• Perkins emphasizes that Keeper is meant to feel markedly different in tone and structure from Longlegs (2024) and The Monkey (2025), viewing each of his recent horror films as separate experiments.

• Perkins described the movie as a critique of "disgusting maleness", employing folk-horror visuals to explore patriarchy, misogyny and toxic masculinity.

• Perkins cited The Shining (1980) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974) as stylistic touchstones, explaining that relationship dynamics and emotional instability drive his version of horror rather than jump scares.

• During the 2023 Hollywood strikes, director Osgood Perkins used the downtime to conceptualize Keeper as a way to keep his team working while other productions were stalled.