Keeper (2025)

Plot of Keeper: Malcolm, a doctor, takes his girlfriend Liz for a romantic weekend in an isolated cabin of some luxury in the woods, but right from the start things seem off. There is an adjacent cabin where Malcolm says his cousin Darren lives, but he will be no problem. However, Darren and his girlfriend Minka visit and seem to be suggesting some form of collective sex, until sent away by Malcolm. After persuading Liz to eat a bit of what appears to be chocolate cake Malcolm says he must return to the city where one of his patients is due to be awoken from an induced coma. While he is away Liz has some unnerving experiences which feature Minka in various forms and a woman with a bag over her head. She also communicates with her friend Maggie who suggests that Malcolm is married and says she will come and get her if she wants. Out in the woods while trying to order a taxi we see Minka attacked by unknown forces. When Malcolm returns he is surprised to see Liz, who accuses him of being married. He says he is not, and tells her the truth.

Content: No sex or nudity, just a bit of drinking but no drunks and some references to magic mushrooms. Everything happens within the quite unusual house in the woods. It is more than a cabin with a variety of levels, some balconies and a lot of glass. It overlooks a stream where the clear water tumbles over the rocks, and where Liz fins a locket containing what looks like a 19^th century photo of a woman. The couples talk and Malcolm persuades Liz to eat some of a cake which is seen first in a box tied with string. Later Liz, gorges on it. She spends time locked in the bathroom, as she becomes more suspicious, but is to find out later that the lock does not work. Oh dear!

A View: We have seen a number of Osgood Perkins films by now and they have in general been good value. This outing not quite so much, but it becomes understandable when you find out the circumstances under which the film was made. Really there is not quite enough context for it to be a proper story, and you might come out of the cinema asking some questions but it does tick a lot of the horror boxes. Maybe one of those films which you might wait to see when it appears on cable, but not with your children because it is unsettling.

Fun Fact: Filmed in North Vancouver, with Canadians when work on The Monkey was held up due to the 2023 Hollywood labour dispute.