Keeper - The Chosen: Osgood Perkins' film in 2K

With Keeper, director Osgood Perkins returns to explore a creeping horror, allowing the setting to speak for itself. The cabin, surrounded by an impenetrable forest, is not just an isolated refuge: an ancient secret lurks among those trees, continuing to claim new victims. Every sound, every absence, every apparent moment of quiet seems to suggest that something is watching in the shadows, waiting for the past to collect its due.

Rather than seeking a jump scare, Perkins works on the feeling that something is not quite right. The direction fosters a constant unease that slowly grows and accompanies the entire film. The cabin is not just the setting of the story, but a presence that seems to absorb the past of its inhabitants, helping to create a tension that needs no forcing.

Horror that lets silences and settings speak

While Perkins demonstrates considerable confidence visually, the same cannot be said for the narrative component. The dialogues struggle to be credible, and several passages of the screenplay seem to proceed without real development, leaving some situations lacking the necessary emotional weight. The editing also contributes to this sense of discontinuity, with a construction that at times breaks the rhythm instead of supporting it.

The result is a film capable of fascinating with its atmosphere and staging, but less effective when it needs to transform tension into a truly engaging story. Keeper - The Chosen offers moments of authentic unease and visual inventiveness that leaves an impression, without, however, managing to fully exploit the ideas on which it builds its horror. One wonders what the result would have been if the director of Longlegs had had a better screenplay in his hands.

Shot native digital 4K, with a master of equal measure that favored an excellent Full HD edition. Original image format 1.85:1 (1920 x 1080/24p), AVC/MPEG-4 encoding on a single-layer BD-25. The edition favors a visual setting with warm and muted tones, with cinematography that enhances the cabin interiors and autumnal landscapes. The detail is convincing in close-ups and in the rendering of environments, with minimal hints of banding due to the many sequences immersed in darkness. Highlights remain rather contained, contributing to an overall sober image. In the USA there is also a 4K version, but of questionable quality.

Original DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with dialogues balanced by the center channel, accompanied by a soundtrack that effectively contributes to creating tension. The surround channels enhance the environmental effects of the cabin and the surrounding woods, through well-defined and emphatic effects. The low range intervenes with decent effectiveness in the most intense sequences, without taking on a predominant role. The Italian counterpart is still interesting, even if a little less charismatic due to the dubbing. Both always at 16-bit resolution.

As an extra, a focus on the film with the director (3'). Italian subtitles.