USA – 2013 – 95 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
WITH BRIT MARLING, HAILEE STEINFELD, MUNA OTARU, SAM WORTHINGTON, KYLE SOLLER,
A FILM BY DANIEL BARBER
In this radically reimagined American Western set towards the end of the Civil War, Southerner Augusta (Brit Marling, Arbitrage, The East) encounters two renegade, drunken soldiers (Sam Worthington, Avatar and Kyle Soller, BBC’s “Poldark”) who are on a mission of pillage and violence. After escaping an attempted assault, Augusta races back to the isolated farmhouse that she shares with her sister Louise (Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit, Pitch Perfect 2) and their female slave Mad (newcomer Muna Otaru.) When the pair of soldiers track Augusta down intent on exacting revenge, the trio of women are forced to take up arms to fend off their assailants, finding ways to resourcefully defend their home––and themselves––as the escalating attacks become more unpredictable and relentless.
Based on Julia Hart’s revered 2012 Black List screenplay, and directed by Academy Award® Nominated Daniel Barber (Harry Brown), The Keeping Room is a tense and uncompromising tale of survival that also shatters both gender and genre conventions.
REVIEWS
"a well paced suspense thriller with impressive period atmosphere and settings."
- Afro Toronto
An interview with Julia Hart on her script for The Keeping Room
- Writer Spotlight
‘The Keeping Room’ writer on feminist westerns, horror, “female filmmakers”
- Cinefilles
"a fascinating experiment"
- Black Sheep Previews
"the tension is almost unbearable"
- Toronto Star
3.5 out of 4! "The Keeping Room, beautifully shot in withered browns like a fading photograph, creates a perfectly realized world, at once part of history and yet outside of it. "
- Globe and Mail
"Maintaining an impeccable sense of composition throughout, finding flawless images to freeze on and examine, the final shot of this thoughtful and heartbreaking survival film is unshakeable. Like the opening sequence, it says multitudes with just a single shot and limited action, capturing the world that these women live in without saying a single word. It's breathtaking, even though it's ultimately devastating."
- Exclaim