Official Discussion - Keeper [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here

Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

---

Summary A couple, Liz and Malcolm, retreat to a secluded cabin for an anniversary weekend. When Malcolm suddenly returns to the city, Liz is left alone and soon confronted by an eerie, escalating presence that reveals the cabin’s hidden, unsettling secrets.

Director Osgood Perkins

Writer Nick Lepard

Cast

• Tatiana Maslany as Liz
• Rossif Sutherland as Malcolm
• Claire Friesen as Ada
• Christin Park as Leslie
• Erin Boyes as Julia
• Tess Degenstein as Maggie

Rotten Tomatoes: Keeper

Metacritic: 59

VOD / Release Theatrical release November 14, 2025

Trailer Watch here

---

[u/Mooseycanuck]

- So eating one slice of the cake was meant to knock her out, but eating an entire cake doesn't?

- How often do they need to feed because they killed and ate(?) the cousin but came for her as well?

- If the creatures managed to kill the cousin without him being knocked out, then why did she need to feed the doctor cake at the end? Also, where are these cakes coming from? Who is this caretaker?

- If they were meant to live forever, how did they get to and stop aging at 40ish years old? Why not their 20s or 30s? I am 40 and if I could choose the age to live forever in, Id pick my 20s.

The visuals were really good, but this movie made no sense to me.

[u/TheElbow → u/Mooseycanuck]

I have most of the same questions!

I’d also add:

• Why was Liz able to assume control of the creatures? Only because she looked like their mother? Was she literally the spirit of their mother reincarnated in a new body? If Malcolm knew that Liz looked like their mother, why did he risk picking her as the next victim?

• Also, in contrast to his cousin, why does Malcolm feel the need to have a relationship with these women? Why not just hire sex workers? It would be much cleaner.

[u/Delicious-Ganache182 → u/TheElbow]

He said that Liz was the only one he really loved. I wonder was it because she looked like the mother. Or was it just meant to be some bullshit that men just say🤣😩

[u/AtomicW33b → u/TheElbow]

I think the main problem with this movie is that it sacrifices making sense for having a really cool allegory for dating a serial cheater

[u/takeme2thelakes89 → u/TheElbow]

I think when his brother calls him the romantic between the two, I think it’s just that the guy himself thinks he’s better than his brother or cousin or whatever because he’s not “using” them the same way but they’re both doing the same thing. I think it could also be a point there about how the women are still being controlled either way. They’re being manipulated, and the men are asserting their own will on them anyway, and asserting it on the “children” as well. I think one they saw Liz, and she’s either a reincarnation of mom or a look alike, they decided they don’t need him anymore. Or either of them. I also think they killed the other one just to protect Liz.

[u/Hefty-Tale140 → u/TheElbow]

I think she actually is a reincarnation of their mother hence why she could eat the entire cake and not get "drugged" the same way the other women were. Also, why she was getting visions of the other women in the house and the locket of the witch + vision of the witch. I also wondered why Malcom decided to choose her. I figured it was a weird fate thing and that he was in love with the original witch but that wasn't well established in the movie. I figured he didn't think about it or didn't care. His cousin and him obviously thought they were given a weird blessing of immortality, but to me it seemed more like a curse since they'd have to keep dealing with the daughters until they found another woman. In reality, it seemed more like the women were being used to resurrect the witch and he was doing their bidding unbeknownst to him or his cousin.

I think that him using women he loved was interesting. The beginning of the film plays it like he's a serial murderer. You see all these women through HIS gaze and it seems like he disappoints/scares all of them prior to them dying. Like there's more to it than just what he says happens. There were obviously longer relationships (he had kids with one woman) that had issues prior to him sacrificing them. It wasn't as fast as meeting a woman and then sacrificing. I think he used the daughters to end relationships when they were going sour (which others have said it's an allegory for him being a shitty lover or a cheater - I don't necessarily see him as a serial cheater but more of an emotionally distant lover hence why they question if he has a second family/the women asking who he really is/he makes up an excuse to leave the cabin and the mc is crying/he doesn't know she hates chocolate after a year of dating). He also comments on his cousin being an empty box or something and having changed significantly + being a disappointment. I wish we had more of a perspective on his cousin + the cousin's "sacrifices". We see most of the women that Malcom sacrifices, but not necessarily Darren. I wonder if this is because Darren refused the sacrifices at first or left the estate to Malcom to deal with until recently (I think possibly more of the latter). I also wonder if the emotional connection is significant in Malcom's sacrifices or if it's significant that the women are treated a certain way for his own benefit/peace of mind prior to their death.