Keeper
Critic Alec Toombs doesn't know that “Keeper” is a keeper, but it’s well made enough that he's glad he saw it once.
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I’ve really enjoyed Osgood Perkins’ last few films with indie shingle Neon (these being “Longlegs” and “The Monkey”) and was eagerly anticipating their latest collaboration “Keeper” (now in theaters). I’d say “Keeper” is a picture I respect more than like and while there’s much to admire it’s easily my least favorite of the three.
Liz (Tatiana Maslany) and Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) are a New York City-based couple who’ve been dating for a year. She’s an artist. He’s a doctor. They’re on their way to his familial cabin in the woods for a weekend away.
The cabin has cool, modern architecture while still feeling like it’s a part of the forest. A similar structure stands next door belonging to Malcolm’s cousin Darren (Birkett Turton, deliciously douchey). Darren and his non-English speaking model date Minka (Eden Weiss) drop in on Liz and Malcolm after dinner putting a damper on their evening.
The following day Malcolm is called into the city to tend to a patient leaving Liz all on her lonesome. Strange occurrences have been afoot and things begin to get a helluva lot stranger.
“Keeper” isn’t going to be for all audiences. In fact, it’s probably not gonna be for most audiences. It’s the slowest of slow burns. The performances of Maslany and Sutherland, the score from Edo Van Breemen, the cinematography of Jeremy Cox, the production design of Danny Vermette, the art direction of Allison Deleo and the set decoration of Trevor Johnston were enough to keep me engaged as they’re all doing masterful work under the watchful eye of Perkins. The script from Nick Lepard (he wrote “Dangerous Animals” earlier this year) is simple – this seems to be a trait of his work from a small sample size – but effective.
The film opens with a montage involving various beautiful women (played by Claire Friesen, Christin Park, Erin Boyes and Gina Vultaggio) through different periods of time and it’s some of my favorite filmmaking of the year as edited by Graham Fortin and Greg Ng, but I knew where the movie was going as soon as I saw it. Maybe I’ve seen too many movies? Maybe the mystery isn’t mysterious enough?
I don’t know that “Keeper” is a keeper, but it’s well made enough that I’m glad I saw it once.