Keeper (2025 film)

Did You Know?

• The film was originally scheduled for release on October 3, 2025.
• Distribution rights were sold to Neon in the United States and Elevation Pictures in Canada at the 2024 Cannes Film Market.
• The film was released a day earlier in Australia, co-distributed by Rialto Distribution.

Plot

Malcolm brings his girlfriend Liz to a remote cabin for their one-year anniversary weekend. Inside, Liz discovers a boxed cake that Malcolm says the caretaker left for them. Their dinner is interrupted by the arrival of Malcolm’s annoying cousin Darren and his European model girlfriend, Minka. Malcolm pushes Liz to try the cake, even though Minka warns it tastes terrible. After eating a slice, Liz starts having disturbing visions of screaming, bloodied women and a pregnant woman who looks exactly like her. That night, she finishes the entire cake, despite finding severed fingers inside it.

The next morning, Minka is attacked by an invisible force while walking in the woods. Malcolm leaves to tend to a patient, promising to return by evening. Alone, Liz calls her friend Maggie, who offers to come get her. Strange creatures start appearing in the cabin and following Liz. She sees the ghostly form of Minka and a woman with a plastic bag over her head. Darren shows up with a cleaver, demanding to be let in, but Liz hides in the bathroom as unseen forces kill him. Liz tries to call Maggie again but can’t get a signal. When Malcolm returns, a frantic Liz says she wants to leave, but he calms her down and suggests they share a drink before going.

Growing suspicious, Liz finds an old photo of Malcolm with a woman and two girls who look like his wife and daughters. She confronts him. Malcolm explains that 200 years ago, when he and Darren were teenagers, they shot a pregnant woman in the leg on their property. After she gave birth to the creatures now haunting Liz, they shot her in the head. Since then, they have fed the creatures in exchange for extended life; the screaming women in Liz’s visions are previous victims. The cake was drugged to knock Liz out.

Production

Keeper, a horror film directed by Osgood Perkins, was first presented at the Cannes Film Market in May 2024. The screenplay was written by Nick Lepard, with Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland set to star. Chris Ferguson and Jesse Savath produced the project for Oddfellows. This marks the third film Neon has made with Perkins, following Longlegs and The Monkey. Filming took place entirely in Vancouver while The Monkey was paused because of the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. To keep the Canadian cast and crew working, Perkins and Ferguson hired a writer not affiliated with the Writers Guild of America and brought on Canadian actors who could forgo their SAG-AFTRA membership. Jeremy Cox handled cinematography, and Edo Van Breemen composed the score.

Reception

On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average of 54 out of 100 from 20 critics, reflecting mixed or average reviews. CinemaScore audiences gave it a D+. Jesse Hassenger of The Guardian noted that while the film lacks the richness of Sinners and the narrative ambition of Weapons, its tight confines feel satisfying and unlikely to spawn a sequel. Kristy Puchko of Mashable described it as a surreal and sensational thriller, praising its sickening sound effects, spectacular creature design, and smartly savage script. Alexander Mooney of Slant Magazine criticized it as assiduously advertised, sloppily scripted, stylistically constipated, plated with sarcasm, and never frightening.