Director Osgood Perkins has been very vocal in his debt to the late director David Lynch. While Perkins has his own cinematic aesthetic, it’s hard not to see the influence that the late great director has had on his films. Perkins offers up what might be his most overtly Lynch-inspired film to date in Keeper. It’s a ghost story as only Perkins could tell it but one that owes a great debt to Lynch, for better or worse.
Keeper follows two ideas attached to that word. The first ‘keeper’ refers to a romantic partner. Liz (Tatiana Maslany) finds herself head over heels for her partner (Rossif Sutherland). The two have been together for over a year and he’s just invited her to his cabin. The two dote on each other but there’s a tension underneath it all. An uncertainty that sits between them.
The second interpretation of the word ‘keeper’ alludes to a custodianship. That comes in the form of the ghosts that haunt this particular home. The spirits here don’t moan and hover. They crawl out of the shadows and feel like things out of nightmares. These are things that, outside of watching over this space, are unknowable. They keep watch over this house for their own reasons.
For Perkins (and like Lynch), the past is a ghost, whereas dreams and reality coexist as one. As Maslany’s character begins having visions of possible former occupants, faces and memories start getting visually indistinguishable. Time here exists on multiple levels, but it ties Maslany’s character to the previous visitors of this cabin. Water imagery abounds throughout, giving the film a dreamlike quality.
Where this film owes its biggest debt to Lynch is in its focus on a woman in trouble. There is never a moment in Keeper where Maslany’s Liz feels safe. It feels like everyone’s ready to pounce on her. As her lover continues to lie and gaslight her, the terror for her grows. There’s never a sense that Maslany’s character will live through all of this. And to truly signal this is a film about women in trouble, Perkins opens the film with women giving the famous Lynch howls of anguish, pain, and terror.
Maslany, who played a smaller role in Perkins other 2025 film The Monkey, proves to be a perfect collaborator for the director. She captures someone who can’t tell if they’re losing their mind or being attacked by ghosts, or both. There are a lot of acting challenges here, from the breakdown of her character’s relationship to being responsible for carrying the film when she’s the only one on screen. In Keeper, Maslany continues to prove why she’s one of our great actresses, especially in her willingness to try anything.
Keeper is a purposely strange film, one that’s likely to be divisive. There’s parts that would definitely not be in a Lynch film. It’s hard to imagine Lynch fully explaining what’s happening. There’s parts that definitely will frustrate some and annoy others. However, for those willing to work on its wavelength, Keeper brings something new and fascinating to the haunted house genre. It begs to be explored through multiple viewings. For a film clearly inspired by the great David Lynch, nothing could be more appropriate.
Keeper is currently playing in theaters
