The Honeycut: ‘Keeper’ Kept Me Thinking Long After the Credits Rolled

A Weekend in the Woods

It sounds crazy, but I had never met my co-host on the Midnight Terrors Podcast, Kevin, in person. We live about 10 hours apart from each other. That changed last week when he was in my neck of the woods. Naturally, we went to see a horror movie. The one we chose: Osgood Perkins’ “Keeper.” 

I had no idea what to expect from this film. What I didn’t expect was how much I would be thinking about it in the days after I saw it. 

The Story

Malcolm takes his girlfriend, Liz, to his family’s cabin in the woods to celebrate their one-year anniversary. When Malcolm leaves Liz alone in the cabin, she begins to have paranormal encounters with otherworldly beings. 

Eventually, we find out that Malcolm and his brother made a pact with these monsters about 200 years ago. The brothers feed their girlfriends or wives to the specters and in return, they grant the brothers longer lifespans. 

Honey’s Cut

Osgood Perkins has certainly carved out his own lane in the horror genre. With “Longlegs,” “The Monkey,” and “Keeper,” Perkins always brings his style to different movies. They are each so weird in their own way, and that’s not a knock on his work. I’m glad that we’re seeing more unconventional films these days. 

That being said, I felt this movie could have given us more to follow early on. For about the first three-quarters of “Keeper,” it felt like I was watching a series of scary scenes as opposed to a cohesive story. I appreciate a movie that doesn’t spoon-feed you as to what’s going on. But this was one of those ones that gave me too little to work with, until later on when it all made sense. 

Other than that, I enjoyed this one. It’s described as folk horror, which is interesting because that isn’t a label I see too often, and it fits. The creatures are that of some kind of twisted folklore, after all. Speaking of the monsters, I really liked their designs. Each one has its own unique look. One has an elongated neck that slithers around like a snake. Another one of the beings crawls around like a spider. 

There’s a lot more to dig into with this one, but I’d say go see it for yourself. There are a lot of different things you can take away from it. While I thought it was pretty average after I first saw it, “Keeper” has grown on me the more I’ve thought about it. To me, that’s a mark of a good movie. I’d say it’s… above average for me now. 

Honey’s Final Thought

On our podcast, Kevin and I discussed what the title, “Keeper,” actually referred to. Were the brothers the keepers of the monsters? Were the monsters the keepers of the brothers? Or, is it something that Malcolm says about Liz, “She’s a keeper”? It could be all of them, but I’ve been leaning more toward the last one. 

We live at a faster pace than ever before. Relationships are no exception. With dating apps and social media, your next lover is just a swipe or a DM away. You can break up with someone in the afternoon and be with someone new that night. In the film, we see Malcolm do this through the decades, sacrificing his significant others to the monsters, then finding someone new to continue the cycle. 

While you can certainly always find a new love interest, some people are not so easily replaceable. Some people hit you on a soul level. And while you can always meet someone new, you can never truly replace them. Maybe that’s what Liz was for Malcolm. She really was… a keeper.