"For the past few years, horror cinema has sometimes felt as fraught with toxic romance as a particularly cursed dating app. From manipulated meet-cutes (Fresh; Companion) to long-term codependence (Together) to the occasional success story (Heart Eyes), it's clear that romantic relationships are mostly blood-stained hell, and a couple going to a secluded location together is a fresh level of it."
"She thinks she knows Malcolm pretty well, and their early scenes together are neither as dotted with red flags nor as suspiciously idyllic as other recent characters in the doomed-couple genre. Liz has a wary, deadpan sense of humor, and Malcolm has a slightly slurred-together accent as he explains some oddities about his family-owned cabin in the woods (like the fact that he has a creepy cousin who lives nearby)."
"Osgood Perkins, the director, introduces discord through his shot choices, rather than micro-aggressions or backstory. Liz and Malcolm's faces are rarely outright hidden, but they're often partially obscured, shown from odd angles, or framed in shots with a disconcerting amount of headroom. This establishes a pattern of disorientation that continues as Liz thinks she hears faint noises through the house's vents."
Keeper, directed by Osgood Perkins and starring Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland, follows Liz and Malcolm during a weekend at Malcolm's family cabin. The film builds unease through framing and shot choices rather than explicit backstory or overt hostility. Faces are often partially obscured, shown from odd angles, or framed with unsettling headroom to establish disorientation. Liz experiences faint noises through vents and a hallucinatory superimposition of a river around her in the tub, suggesting a slipping sense of reality. Early chemistry between the couple feels plausible, with Liz's wary, deadpan humor offsetting Malcolm's odd explanations and accent, while intimacy becomes fraught.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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