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What Keeps You Alive

Play trailer 2:15 Poster for What Keeps You Alive R 2018 1h 39m Horror Mystery & Thriller LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
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82% Tomatometer 55 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Jackie and Jules are a couple celebrating their first anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie's family. From the moment they arrive, something changes in Jules' normally loving wife, as Jackie begins to reveal a previously unknown dark side -- all building up to a shocking revelation that will pit Jules against the woman she loves in a terrifying fight to survive.
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What Keeps You Alive

What Keeps You Alive

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Critics Consensus

Smart, stylish, and well-acted, What Keeps You Alive proves it's still possible to spin an engrossing horror yarn without fundamentally altering established formula.

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Critics Reviews

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Jamie Righetti IndieWire 10/31/2018
B+
Despite a few predictable beats, "What Keeps You Alive" offers plenty of effective jolts, helped along by the chemistry between leads Anderson and Allen. Go to Full Review
Brad Wheeler Globe and Mail 10/31/2018
3/4
That being said, the victory of What Keeps You Alive is not its heart-thumping (and a little too long) second act, but the question of survival versus vengeance the film raises. Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey Variety 10/31/2018
Nonetheless, it's an entertaining and well-crafted effort from a resourceful indie team who've scored enough respectable base hits to date that one might reasonably expect them to deliver a home-run any time now. Go to Full Review
Ciara Pitts Vague Visages 12/15/2023
Minihan’s tale is a moody, memorable work of art that dares its audience to meditate on the layers and anxieties of love and deceit. Go to Full Review
Matt Glasby Radio Times 03/23/2023
3/5
There is a violent about-turn that will surprise even hardened genre fans, but this is otherwise a not especially original play on the usual hunter/hunted model. Go to Full Review
Michael Cuby them. 09/30/2022
An unnerving, bloody thriller, What Keeps You Alive is the perfect offering for queer horror fans looking for some scares that also speak to their own sexual identities. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Veontre J. @v3ontrej 2h Started off strong but slowly turned into one of the dumbest female leads ever. Very poorly written at the end. See more Kath M @Filmgirl333 3d Filmmakers did a decent job, but story was too vague and had nothing concrete to sink your teeth into. When you jump right into crazy, you are left with nowhere to really go. Sadly, the film just became another cat and mouse cliche with zero depth. The main actor gave a stellar performance however the other characters performances were 2 dimensional and often times cringey. This film had potential but the filmmakers got too caught up into "trying" to be scary rather than actually creating something for audiences to really be scared of. See more Keepa @Icommentonbadmovies 6d Watching this movie feels like being intellectually insulted, like what were they thinking? where are the logics, where are common sense, cant believe I spend 1hr30 min to feel like i can do a better job at directing a movie for the first time of my life, buns movie!!!! See more Devin a @Adevster8 Jan 9 it started off decent and got so bad so quickly literally so bad.. See more John L @view2views Dec 17 Excellent story telling that builds...and builds.....I recommend this film to you. See more Kamila R Nov 13 Good film, I liked how they explored every emotion so deep and throughly, we got to know, even in the relatively short time of the film, how both of the protagonists feel and who they truly are, some may find the beginning too slow but I think it was the thing that constructed the whole tension and kept us thrilled in the movie when the pace changed suddenly… the final was nothing I was expecting but in a good way. In conclusion, I wish more films like this were created. See more Read all reviews
What Keeps You Alive

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Movie Info

Synopsis Jackie and Jules are a couple celebrating their first anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie's family. From the moment they arrive, something changes in Jules' normally loving wife, as Jackie begins to reveal a previously unknown dark side -- all building up to a shocking revelation that will pit Jules against the woman she loves in a terrifying fight to survive.
Director
Colin Minihan
Producer
Chris J. Ball, Kurtis David Harder, Ben Knechtel, Colin Minihan
Screenwriter
Colin Minihan
Distributor
IFC Midnight
Production Co
IFC Films, Digital Interference Productions
Rating
R (Brief Nudity|Bloody Images|Language|Violence)
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 24, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 24, 2018
Runtime
1h 39m
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