Keeper Directed by Osgood Perkins Receives R Rating for Gore and Violence
Almost no one can ever hope to attain the horror-icon status of Anthony Perkins, but over the past year or so, his son, Keeper director Osgood Perkins, has been making an admirable effort. Last summer, his ’90s-styled serial-killer mystery Longlegs was one of 2024’s most smashing successes of the genre, and he followed it up a mere seven months later with a similarly crowd-pleasing Stephen King adaptation, The Monkey. The latter film won’t even be his only horror movie released this year, thanks to the upcoming Keeper.
A Couple’s Retreat from Hell – And We Don’t Know Much Else
Trailer for ‘Keeper’, Courtesy of NEON
The premise of Keeper is a time-honored horror movie setup: a couple goes to stay at a cabin in the woods for an anniversary weekend getaway. Then the guy, Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland, another son of a Hollywood legend), heads back to civilization alone, leaving the gal, Liz (Tatiana Maslany, who also starred in The Monkey), to face the cabin’s dark secrets – including a malevolent entity – all by herself.
And this is about all that’s been made public about the story of Keeper. Its trailer, which dropped on August 18, contains a slew of eerie, disturbing visuals, but it manages to keep the focus on the movie’s thematic elements to the exclusion of any plot details. From this trailer, it’s evident that the predominant theme in Keeper will be the issue of trust in a relationship – both Liz and Malcolm are heard asking the same questions about the other, wondering whether they can trust each other or even know each other for who they really are.
Moreover, there’s a hint that a lot of the blame in this fraught relationship may be on Malcolm’s shoulders. Back in July, at San Diego Comic-Con, Perkins and Maslany described to Comicbook.com Keeper as a very candid and unflinching portrait of toxic masculinity. They weren’t mincing any words about it: Perkins called it “a look at disgusting maleness… It’s a depiction of our worst selves as men.” Maslany remarked that “it’s all about men. Men suck.”
An R-Rated Horror Film – Gorehounds Should Be Pleased
And when I say “unflinching,” I’m not simply talking about sheer thematic boldness. Keeper will be a decidedly R-rated horror movie. Its rating is attributed to “some violent content/gore, language, and some sexual references.” Perhaps not as graphic in the sexual department as one might expect for a relationship-based R-rated flick, but if there’s one thing that just about any R-rated horror film has to deliver on, it’s gore. Perkins didn’t pull any punches with Longlegs, and certainly not with The Monkey, so even with the qualifier of “some,” those who crave blood-filled mutilation onscreen should expect Keeper to satiate their desire.
And they should expect to see Keeper on November 14.
