What Keeps You Alive

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What Keeps You Alive

R

Released Aug 24, 2018

1h 39m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

55 Reviews

44%

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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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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Jamie Righetti

IndieWire

Despite a few predictable beats, "What Keeps You Alive" offers plenty of effective jolts, helped along by the chemistry between leads Anderson and Allen.

Rated: B+

Oct 31, 2018

Full Review

Brad Wheeler

Globe and Mail

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.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 31, 2018

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

Variety

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.

Oct 31, 2018

Full Review

Ciara Pitts

Vague Visages

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.

Dec 15, 2023

Full Review

Matt Glasby

Radio Times

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.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 23, 2023

Full Review

Michael Cuby

them.

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.

Sep 30, 2022

Full Review

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Adrian A

Remarkably unintelligent. Tropey. Feels like a high budget film student final project. A thriller with a main character with no survival instinct, making every wrong decision. An ending that made me groan. I try to just shut up and eat my popcorn when I can, but when a screenplay is this bad, it's hard to ignore all the flaws.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/12/25

Full Review

Orlando C

I went into this movie with great trepidation. Based on the audience reviews, there seemed to be a character decision so egregious that it ruined the film for many. I have seen these types of movies before with the one dumb decision and it's usually 50/50 for me whether the foible ruins it for me or not. So going in to this one, it was going to be a coin toss. When I came across that nonsensical decision (you'll instantly know it when you see it), I almost turned the movie off. However, the movie had built up such good will, I felt, as a viewer, I owed it to see it through. And let me also just say, in all fairness, there is zero chance the character makes that decision in any kind of universe/dimension - zero. But this a movie, and that being said, I looked past it, and found the movie to be enthralling, tense, smart and captivating. I would strongly suggest, when you see that incomprehensible plot twist, remember how good the rest of the movie was leading up to it (as well as the rest of the movie after that point) and you'll find that this was a great film.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/27/25

Full Review

Kim W

So creepy & suspenseful! Captivating the whole way through. Great ending

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/22/24

Full Review

Logan D

Jackie and Jules travel to a remote cabin to celebrate their one year anniversary as a same sex married couple. Someone has to ruin it with violence. The actresses deserved a better story. Instead, they received an unmemorable formulaic tale in which their characters make stupid choices only to move the plot along.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/30/24

Full Review

Vanessa S

Brilliant underrated movie gem

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/11/24

Full Review

Goran G

I really wanted to like this movie but some of the parts were very unsatisfying and absurd. For example, the girl is thrown from the cliff, have major injuries (including her face badly wounded) and yet the day after she appears at the dinner with almost no scars and guests doesn't notice anything except that she looks somehow weak. C'mon! Maybe I am being too demanding and critical but those kind of inconsistent places annoy me. However, there are some nice chills and performances from two lead ladies are good.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/29/25

Full Review

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What Keeps You Alive: Trailer 1

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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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