The Keeping Room

The Keeping Room is a 2014 American drama film, directed by Daniel Barber and written by Julia Hart. The film is a period piece, set against the backdrop of the final days of the civil war. It features an impressive cast that includes Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, and Sam Worthington. Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld portray sisters Augusta and Louise, who inhabit a desolate, patriarchal landscape of the American South, while Sam Worthington takes the role of a rogue Union soldier.

The film’s title, The Keeping Room, is an old term referencing a space in a home where the family would gather around a hearth for warmth and companionship. This title sets the tone for the film; it is an intimate exploration of human relationships within the world of a harsh, war-torn South. The focus isn't on grand battles or overarching political discussions; rather, it's on a trio of women fighting against both brutality and the elements for survival.

The film opens to presents a bleak and desolate Southern landscape where the two sisters, Augusta and Louise, alongside their slave Mad (Muna Otaru), are left to tend to their homestead as the war rages on. The girls lost their father and their brother to the war, and their mother passed away of health issues which leaves them to fend for themselves in the midst of this brutal time of uncertainty.

As the film progresses, the women are pushed to their limits when they encounter two renegade Union soldiers - Moses (Sam Worthington) and Caleb - who've broken off from Sherman's march and are terrorizing the defenseless populace. The movie then takes on the tone of a home invasion thriller as the women have to defend their home and their lives. They've to prove that they're more than capable of ensuring their safety, confounding traditional gender roles of the era.

The Keeping Room deploys the quiet tension and the fear of impending violence as its central theme. The movie focuses a lot on the atmosphere using the desolate setting of the South to create a feeling of isolation. The moments of silence and sparse dialogue are often filled with high-tension anticipation, and they make the most of the silence to convey emotions that words might not.

Performance-wise, the film offers a fantastic platform for its actresses to shine, and they more than deliver. Brit Marling’s performance as the mature and reserved Augusta shines through, and the evolution that the character undergoes, from being a dutiful sister and reluctant leader to a fierce defender of her home, is central to the narrative. Hailee Steinfeld as Louise embodies the fear and naivety of youth before being hardened by the experiences that the war thrusts on her. Muna Otaru as Mad delivers a powerful performance as a woman who has born the brunt of the harsh reality of their world, yet remains a comforting presence. Sam Worthington, too, offers a credible performance as the intimidating and unpredictable Moses.

The cinematography of The Keeping Room is breathtakingly beautiful, and it does justice to the isolated setting. The rugged yet majestic landscape serves as both a stark reminder of the isolation the characters are facing and a silent testament to their resilience. The film's visual storytelling complements the sparse dialogue and slow pace.

The Keeping Room is not just a survival thriller but a thorough exploration of gender roles within the context of warfare. While it may be set in the past, it rings with present-day relevancy; how war affects those who are left behind, and the gender dynamics that emerge as a result of it. The relationship between the three women – two white sisters, and a slave - is shown with compelling complexity against a backdrop of the harsh reality of war.

In conclusion, The Keeping Room is a unique take on the home-invasion thriller genre set in a very specific historical context but it has themes that continue to resonate. It is slow-burning and contemplative, with a focus on characters and their development rather than action. If you're someone who appreciates period dramas combined with the psychological thriller genre, then The Keeping Room is definitely a film worth experiencing.