The last year has truly been an impressive one for writer-director Osgood Perkins, who, after films like 2015’s The Blackcoat’s Daughter and 2020’s Gretel & Hansel, really became a horror director to watch with 2024’s Longlegs. The film was a massive success, becoming the highest-grossing independent film of the year and receiving widespread critical acclaim. Just seven months later, Perkins followed up Longlegs with The Monkey, an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story of the same name, which leaned more towards comedy-horror. While it didn’t receive quite the acclaim of his previous film, it still had people abuzz about what Perkins might do next — especially since the post-credits scene for The Monkey was a trailer for yet another Perkins film, entitled Keeper, which also featured a 2025 release date. What’s been so impressive about these three films from Perkins over the course of 16 months is how they all have a distinct vibe, while allowing Perkins to play with different types of horror. Longlegs gets dark into demonic horror, with touches of The Silence of the Lambs thrown in for good measure, while The Monkey plays with the absurdity that one might expect from King’s work, with over-the-top, macabre kills. Keeper shows Perkins showing restraint with a moody, unsettling story that blends romance with a haunted house tale, combined with psychological horror that makes the audience question what is real and what isn’t. While it’s great that Perkins keeps pushing himself and trying new things within this genre he’s found success in, Keeper drags out its story, struggles to fill its runtime with compelling ideas, and looks like a good sign that maybe Perkins should take a little break.
‘Keeper’ Is Osgood Perkins’ Take on a Horror Love Story

After dating for a year, Liz (Tatiana Maslany) has joined her boyfriend Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland) on a romantic getaway to his cabin in the woods. This anniversary celebration doesn’t take long before things start to get strange. For example, when the couple starts getting intimate, Malcolm requests that Liz try a bite of a cake he admits is shitty, and left for him by his housekeeper that we never see. They are also joined out of nowhere by Malcolm’s abrasive cousin Darren (Birkett Turton) and his girlfriend Minka (Eden Weiss), who live nearby. When Malcolm, out of nowhere, states he has to go back to the city, Liz assumes the worst: that he’s been living a double life and has a family back home. But things start to get even stranger once Malcolm is gone. Liz devours the terrible cake, using her hands to shovel it into her mouth, and she starts to see things around the house. Sometimes it’s just a surprise out of the corner of her eye, but then she starts to see other people, and weird creatures that she can’t explain. As Liz waits for Malcolm to return, she realizes that the cabin might not just be a place for their anniversary celebration, but something far more sinister.
‘Keeper’ Shows How Great Tatiana Maslany and Osgood Perkins Are Together

More than anything, Keeper is worthwhile for the way it gives Tatiana Maslany a great showcase for her talents as an actress. Most of the film, she’s by herself, reckoning with whatever the hell is going on, yet she’s engrossing, entertaining, and charming from beginning to end. Maslany was a real standout in The Monkey, and she continues to be a bright spot here, even when she’s not doing much at all — which is more of a testament to Maslany’s talents than to the film itself. Maslany as an actress deserves more attention, and thankfully, in the films of Perkins, she’s getting just that. Keeper is additionally fascinating as an example of how Perkins continues to try new types of horror stories. Here, Perkins is constantly playing with the architecture of this cabin, utilizing its natural angles, and trying to find sinister ways to frame the action to maximize the terror without leaning too far into it. In one haunting scene, Perkins shoots Maslany from a lower angle, so we can see the ceiling. Instead of focusing on what’s going on behind Maslany’s Liz, he keeps it unfocused and unclear, giving us a glimpse of what’s really going on, without giving away the secret just yet. With Longlegs, Perkins often made slight movements or dark things hiding in the shadows utterly terrifying, and from a directing perspective, Keeper is a continuation of that experimentation with the nightmares sneaking around the frame.
Osgood Perkins’ Horror Tale ‘Keeper’ Feels Like a Short Stretched Into a Feature

Tatiana Maslany in KeeperImage via Neon

Yet where Keeper really falters is in its screenplay, which is a short’s worth of narrative spread out over a feature. There’s nothing wrong with a slow build of tension in a horror film — Longlegs certainly showed us that — but Keeper acts as though it has its first and third act figured out, and no idea what to include in its second. Yes, Maslany is entertaining through this meandering middle, but she’s the only thing to grasp onto as this film wastes its time getting to its conclusion. Even though Keeper is building towards what should be a bombshell conclusion, the foreshadowing of something unusual going on undercuts what could’ve been a wild rug pull out from under the audience. Instead of shock, the reveal of answers is a bit of a shrug that isn’t truly that surprising, considering what we’ve seen so far. Keeper seems as though it’s leading towards an ending that this journey will pay off, but it ultimately fizzles out into disappointment. Keeper is only the second film Perkins has directed that he hasn’t written (the other film being Gretel & Hansel), and it shows. Instead, Keeper is written by Nick Lepard, who also wrote the delightfully over-the-top shark thriller Dangerous Animals from earlier this year. If Dangerous Animals was a gleeful celebration of ridiculous excess, Keeper is the polar opposite, a horror film that’s almost too restrained and quiet for its own good. One can’t help but wonder if Keeper would’ve felt a bit more substantive had Perkins handled the screenplay as well, but it’s hard not to further consider how much fun Perkins could have with a story as ludicrous as Dangerous Animals to play with. For what it’s worth, Perkins and Maslany do their best to keep this story engaging and uncomfortable in how they present this idea, but they’re let down by Lepard’s unsatisfying screenplay that almost comes across as unfinished. Maslany can effectively react to shadows and reflections, and Perkins can navigate this cabin to maximize its horror potential, but without the screenplay to back them up, this just becomes a curious experiment without much focus. Keeper comes to theaters on November 14.

Release Date

November 14, 2025

Runtime

99 Minutes

Director

Osgood Perkins

Writers

Nick Lepard

Producers

Chris Ferguson, Jesse Savath

Pros & Cons

Tatiana Maslany gets the opportunity to shine and prove why she’s such an underrated actress.
Keeper continues Osgood Perkins’ trend of pushing himself with each new horror film.

Nick Lepard’s screenplay doesn’t feel like it knows what to do with the second act.
Keeper ends on a jarring, but sort of predictable note that is a bit disappointing.