aronharde

On paper, the idea of Keeper sounds generic, but the fact that it is directed by Osgood Perkins, who is on an absolute roll by releasing movie after movie, intrigued me enough to give it a try. His films are always unique, and even though I do not love all of them, he has certainly established a name for himself with his distinct style. We follow a woman (Tatiana Maslany) and a man (Rossif Sutherland) as they spend a romantic anniversary trip at a secluded cabin, but shortly after arriving, the man has to leave for a short time for work, and that is when eerie things begin to happen.

The movie features beautiful cinematography thanks to Jeremy Cox and a great setting that creates an atmospheric, eerie, and unsettling vibe, which has become a trademark of Osgood Perkins. However, this is definitely not your typical Blumhouse jumpscare movie, which should be clear since Neon is the distributor. It is much more of a slow burn with abstract imagery and initially confusing storytelling. It takes quite a while for the film to truly begin, and even when the first strange events occur, you are still left in the dark about what is actually happening. There are some creepy moments sprinkled throughout, but the film keeps its themes and threats unclear. At one point we get a large exposition dump, which is something Perkins tends to do in his films. It is not a very popular choice, since it would be far more effective to give the audience small hints throughout the story and trust them to put the pieces together themselves. These exposition dumps feel lazy and unspectacular and automatically make the film less engaging.

Once the full picture is revealed, we are greeted with some very creepy imagery that is unique and unsettling. Unfortunately, by that point the runtime is almost over, and the final act feels rushed. I would have preferred the reveal to be spread throughout the film and for the third act to begin earlier so we could get more of what we were finally shown.

Overall, it is a unique and interesting film that is definitely not for everyone, which becomes clear when looking at how divided the ratings and reviews are. If you enjoy slow paced horror movies with great cinematography and unusual ideas, and if you are generally a fan of Perkins, Keeper will most likely work for you. But if you expect a more conventional horror film filled with jumpscares and a plot driven structure, Keeper will probably feel boring.

I do not think you can easily generalize this movie as good or bad since it really depends on your personal taste. If what I described sounds appealing, you should watch it yourself and form your own opinion. I was personally a bit conflicted since I am not the biggest fan of these rather pretentious, slow paced horror films, and I think they only work when there is a strong story and a rewarding final act. In my opinion, this movie only had the latter.

[5,7/10]

In this movie we follow Rohan (Pranav Mohanlal), who becomes convinced that there is a supernatural entity in his modern villa. The location looks great and offers nice settings that create a strong contrast to the darker and more frightening elements of the film. Pranav Mohanlal gives a great performance as the lead and has by far the most screen time, which he makes the most of.

The movie starts off intriguing and gradually introduces short glimpses of the horror elements that await us. It builds tension well and contains a few scenes that were constructed with care. The make-up department also did a great job. Sadly, the longer the movie went on, the more it fell apart in the second half. There are some very cheap jump scares that do not fit the atmosphere and break the immersion. It also feels as if the carefully created plotline begins to run in circles without knowing where to head next.

It is disappointing because the film begins with so much promise but loses its way toward the end. Not only does it become boring, but the entire storyline grows weaker as it progresses. The movie picks up a little in the final moments, but it still does not know the right moment to cut to the credits. Instead, it keeps going and makes the ending feel generic and forgettable. [4,7/10]

I genuinely really like the world building in Thamma and especially the first 30 minutes were engaging and intrigued me to see where the story would go. Shortly after that, the pacing becomes a little poor and the movie starts to drag in some parts. We are treated to many jokes and one liners, with some of them working pretty well and others feeling unfitting and forced. In the second half the movie turns more into action and we even get a fight sequence between our protagonist Alok and another mystical creature from this universe, which felt a little out of place. The villain in the story is a little underrepresented, although his character is quite interesting and I would have loved to see more of him. The love story and romantic aspect do not work as well as they probably would have liked it to, but it is not terrible. However, the movie tries to do too much and combines everything into one flick, which makes it feel stuffed with too many plot lines and genres. The massive runtime also does not help, since it causes the movie to drag in many moments. There are some interesting aspects in Thamma, but also many flaws that could have been avoided, which makes the movie end up rather average and unspectacular. [4,8/10]