Osgood Perkins’ ‘Keeper’ Sets a Bewitching Mood Around a Cryptic Horror Allegory

Alci Rengifo

It has been the season of the witch for a while now when it comes to horror films. As if a spell were cast over every development meeting, hyper real versions of paganism run amok is the new checklist item to quickly wrap up a thriller. Osgood Perkins’ “Keeper” further confirms the director as an emerging master of unsettling moods. Even when his movies stop making any rational sense, they contain an ambiance that lingers like a bad dream. Great care is put into making the spooks look convincingly gross and nightmarish. Perkins’ latest is the filmmaker now attempting to dabble in recent social horror trends. Cryptic images and yes, witchcraft, are meant to say something about heterosexual relationships, with added screeches.

The latest couple to get caught in a web of darkness is Liz (Tatiana Maslany), an artist, and her boyfriend, Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland). At first glance they are an odd couple. She is a free-spirited artist and he’s a doctor who looks a bit uptight. They have been dating for a year and he is still bad at picking out gifts (this is not a woman who is into beige cardigans). What Malcolm does have good taste for is a gorgeous vacation home out in the woods. They start a small getaway at the house which quickly turns ominous. A plain brown cake box is waiting for them in the dining room, despite Liz hating chocolate cake. She tastes it anyway with gritted teeth. Malcolm’s obnoxious cousin, Darren (Birkett Turton), drops by at night with a strange, silent Eastern European date named Minka (Eden Weiss). The next day, Malcolm is called away to work, leaving Liz alone in the house. Immediately, unsettling things start happening like frightening apparitions and the sensation some other presence is sharing space with Liz.

Nice houses have become the common sites for grotesqueries in horror, as seen recently in movies like “Companion” and “Bring Her Back.” Production designer Danny Vermette delivers a great one here that chills through how invitingly normal it looks. The setting is vital considering most of the film consists of Liz wandering, napping and sitting around the house, beginning to lose control over strange happenings. Perkins is smart enough to build up the tension by first hinting at the specters. A strange entity with an elongating neck moves out of focus without Liz noticing. A head seems to silently scream from the trash outside and a woman with a bagged head, flies buzzing around, silently appears in the kitchen. There are many more, so these are not total spoilers. Importantly, Perkins and cinematographer Jeremy Cox don’t rely heavily on CGI to create this environment. They rely on making the images rich and memorable through the framing and gothic lighting. 

Perkins likes to initiate a film with some kind of striking image or scene that hints at what’s to come. “Keeper” opens with ethereal shots of women from past eras in history, then cuts to each one screaming, their faces bloodied. This time Perkins did not write the screenplay, that task falls to Nick Lepard, who never forms much of a cohesive point. The director’s previous films, “Longlegs” and “The Monkey,” were entertaining and clear on their basic aims. While the former started instant word of mouth chatter, the latter was a sly Stephen King adaptation that celebrated chuckling at death. “Keeper” never goes beyond being a hazy allegory about how men tend to be real jerks. They take what they can and leave women to sit alone at the house, waiting for an explanation. Flashbacks gradually reveal some folky elements to the story, though they make little logical sense. It’s always strange when the presence of a being, such as a witch, with great powers is established but they’re taken down by a 1700s kid with a musket. To his credit, Perkins doesn’t resort to the idea of witches as a negative, but as a feminine symbol. 

The crescendo of the plot is both confusing but visually unforgettable. Liz uncovers some shockers in the basement where Perkins uses lighting, stunningly grotesque makeup and visual effects to summon up some excellent horror. He’s such a skilled visual artist that we can briefly forget the lapses in the plot. It was the same with “Longlegs,” where Nicolas Cage’s unforgettably mad Satanist helped gloss over the script’s inconsistencies. Perkins resorts here to the same use of a grimy view of paganism that has been in vogue ever since we discovered what was going on after hours in “Hereditary.” Just a few weeks ago “Shelby Oaks” also revealed makeshift altars emitting dark forces. The witch from “Weapons” could form a club. Even while following trends, Perkins remains one of the most effective voices in horror at the moment. He can do a good jump scare, like someone being swept up a tree, but his real strength is in gradually enveloping us in the gloom. On that score, “Keeper” works even if the symbolism gets lost in the haze.

“Keeper” releases Nov. 14 in theaters nationwide.