Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Brutal
- tense
- foreboding
- visceral
- late night horror
- isolated cabin getaway
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film smart, stylish, well acted, and engrossing, while noting predictable beats and an occasionally implausible psychological premise.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jackie and Jules are a married lesbian couple whose relationship becomes the direct site of terror and resistance.
The idyllic forest cabin, lake, rowboat, and surrounding wilderness contrast with escalating murder and psychological threat.
Critics specifically praised the film's upgrade of the Final Girl trope through Jules's struggle for survival and vengeance.
The wedding-anniversary getaway becomes a confrontation with a spouse's hidden psychopathic violence.
Films like What Keeps You Alive, and why
The Strangers: Prey at Night
remote wilderness horror, intimate relationship betrayal, and survival-driven tension
Hush
psychological horror built around domestic intimacy, concealed violence, and escalating paranoia
The Perfection
stylish queer horror, isolated setting, and a relationship transformed into a survival struggle
Movie Details
- Director
- Colin Minihan
- Release Date
- 2018-08-24
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (299)
Cast
- Hannah Emily Anderson
- Brittany Allen
- Martha MacIsaac
- Joey Klein
- Charlotte Lindsay Marron
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is What Keeps You Alive about?
- An idyllic anniversary retreat becomes a savage test of trust when a newlywed discovers her wife is hunting her.
- What is What Keeps You Alive like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of What Keeps You Alive as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is What Keeps You Alive violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in What Keeps You Alive as brutal.
- What did critics think of What Keeps You Alive?
- Critics broadly found the film smart, stylish, well acted, and engrossing, while noting predictable beats and an occasionally implausible psychological premise.
- Which films are like What Keeps You Alive?
- Films with a similar feel include The Strangers: Prey at Night, Hush, and The Perfection.
- How long is What Keeps You Alive?
- What Keeps You Alive runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch What Keeps You Alive?
- In United States, What Keeps You Alive streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now.
