The Keeping Room

Studio: Drafthouse
Directed by Daniel Barber

Sep 25, 2015 By Zach Hollwedel Web Exclusive

The year is 1864, and the Civil War has been raging for years. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman slowly and unstoppably marches his army through Georgia, burning everything in his path. Amid the conflict, southern sisters Augusta (Brit Marling) and Louise (Hailee Steinfeld) eek out a meager living on their farm with the help of their female servant, Mad (Muna Otaru). Their father and brother have long since been swallowed up by the conflict. The neighbors have nearly all been absorbed by it. With no one to turn to, the trio of women must take up arms and defend their home when two murderous, rogue Union soldiers assault the farmstead.

Daniel Barber’s The Keeping Room, drawing from Julia Hart’s much-lauded script, offers a world of promise. Civil War dramas are rare enough, and one in which the protagonists are all women is practically unheard of. Couple that uniqueness with a home invasion premise the likes of Straw Dogs, and you have the makings of a truly riveting, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Engaging as The Keeping Room is, however, it misses as many opportunities as it takes advantage of.

First and foremost is the dynamic between the three women. This is Georgia in 1864. A horrifically bloody war engulfs the entire nation, due in substantial part to half the country’s—the half in which the film is set—unwillingness to eschew slavery. You’d think the dynamic between two sisters who grew up owning slaves and the slave woman they’re forced to live on a relatively equal plane with would be utterly fascinating. Unfortunately, the complex, co-dependent yet imbalanced relationship between them is boiled down to a few snide comments from Louise, and a look of disdain or two Mad casts her way. Marling’s Augusta is the peacekeeper caught in the middle; she knows they have to work together if they’re going to get through the war, which is no doubt realistic, but Hart and Barber could have mined the women’s complicated, layered new reality for so much more depth.

Sam Worthington and Kyle Soller play the bloodthirsty soldiers, and again, here’s where Barber might have been able to earn more mileage. As portrayed, they’re booze-addled combatants suffering—and still living—the horrors of war. They simply can’t stop killing (or raping). War has unleashed all that is or has the potential to be evil in these men, rendering them inhuman, the monsters that lurk in the night. Beyond participating in death on a grand scale, we don’t really know why these two individuals are on such a misogynistic rampage; they simply are. Barber offers a glimmer of insight toward the end, but by this point, it’s probably too late. The Keeping Room explores how war makes people do unthinkable and unexpected things, but it shies away from the people side of things, focusing more steadfastly on the war angle. It is a pretty and tense and well-acted film, but it too easily forgives itself for glossing over what could otherwise have been incredibly intricate and multifaceted characters and situations.

drafthousefilms.com/film/the-keeping-room

Author rating: 5.5/10

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