Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Brutal
- grim
- austere
- slow burning
- historical drama night
- slow burn thriller night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the sparse setting and committed performances, while finding the film’s off-kilter style undercut by frustrating narrative stumbles.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Louise, Augusta, and Mad are the central defenders of the homestead while male soldiers function as the threat.
The women are isolated at their rural home as the Civil War approaches its end and military order disintegrates.
The rural homestead and restrained slow-burn construction make the approaching soldiers feel increasingly threatening.
The story centers two Southern sisters and an African-American former slave rather than soldiers or commanders.
Films like The Keeping Room, and why
Meek's Cutoff
female-led western survival drama with a stark historical setting and restrained violence
Pharaoh's Army
grim Civil War-era frontier drama centered on moral brutality and sparse realism
The Beguiled
women confronting male violence in a tense, revisionist western framework
The Nightingale
bleak rural survival thriller driven by home invasion and psychological pressure
Movie Details
- Director
- Daniel Barber
- Release Date
- 2014-09-25
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (230)
Cast
- Hailee Steinfeld
- Sam Worthington
- Brit Marling
- Muna Otaru
- Nicholas Pinnock
- Kyle Soller
- Ned Dennehy
- Amy Nuttall
- Charles Jarman
- Anna-Maria Nabirye
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Fandor
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Keeping Room about?
- At the ragged end of the American Civil War, three isolated women turn a vulnerable homestead into a last refuge against predatory soldiers.
- What is The Keeping Room like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Keeping Room as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Keeping Room violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Keeping Room as brutal.
- What did critics think of The Keeping Room?
- Critics broadly praised the sparse setting and committed performances, while finding the film’s off-kilter style undercut by frustrating narrative stumbles.
- Which films are like The Keeping Room?
- Films with a similar feel include Meek's Cutoff, Pharaoh's Army, The Beguiled, and The Nightingale.
- How long is The Keeping Room?
- The Keeping Room runs 95 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Keeping Room?
- In United States, The Keeping Room streams on AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+, Fandor.
