What Keeps You Alive

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2:15

What Keeps You Alive

R

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

Oct 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.

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Brad Wheeler

Globe and Mail

Oct 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.

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Dennis Harvey

Variety

Oct 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.

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Ciara Pitts

Vague Visages

Dec 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.

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Matt Glasby

Radio Times

Mar 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.

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Michael Cuby

them.

Sep 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.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 30, 2026

This Movie is a *3* star Movie!

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adrian.c 2

@RT37024635 Sep 12, 2026

Mierda de película,un guión pobrisimo y lleno de agujeros, cero desarrollo de personajes, totalmente inverosímiles las decisiones,y el final un desastre

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B P

@Bradster69 Sep 2, 2026

Not Bad, but Not My Favorite

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Skai T.

@RT46035822 May 15, 2026

I actually enjoyed this movie

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babarizam D

@RT59932316 May 14, 2026

Writing is terrible. The film started with confusion. Director should have explained the basic things first. Everything was odd and wrong. It might have work if it was edited differently.

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Boudicea R

@BoudiceaR May 8, 2026

I watch many horror & thriller movies. I grade using these metrics: -Is there a convincing twist? -was I interested the whole time? -How many times did I say what are you doing/takes me out of the story? -Was the violence/Action/Gore well used and have I not seen it before. I enjoyed this as it checked off a lot of my happy metrics and there was really only one moment/choice where I had what are doing? The actresses did a great job and I don’t feel I wasted any time outside of reading some the audience 1 stars. Ignore the people who only use short sentences or don’t know how to type, spell, or string together a coherent review. It’s probably a bot, a fool, or someone who didn’t even finish it. Also it’s easy to criticize when you don’t create anything but a mediocre review. A 1 star movie is one where even if you’re extremely stoned you still feel like it was a waste of time like you should have cleaned those dishes instead. This isn’t like Leprechaun in The Hood bad.

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Colin Minihan

Director

Hannah Emily Anderson

Jackie

Brittany Allen

Jules

Martha MacIsaac

Sarah

Joey Klein

Daniel

Charlotte Lindsay Marron

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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 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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