Keep the Lights On

2012

Keep the Lights On

Critics Consensus

Keep the Lights On is a mysterious, sexy journey deep into the love affair of two men that always manages to stay true to life.

89%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 64

63%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 3,193
User image

Keep the Lights On Photos

View All Photos (18)

Movie Info

It's 1997 and New York City is in a state of intense flux when documentary filmmaker Erik Rothman (Thure Lindhardt) first meets Paul Lucy (Zachary Booth), a handsome but closeted lawyer in the publishing field. What begins as a highly charged first encounter soon becomes something much more, and a relationship quickly develops. As the two men start building a home and life together, each continues to privately battle their own compulsions and addictions. A film about sex, friendship, intimacy and most of all, love, Keep the Lights On takes an honest look at the nature of relationships in our times. -- (C) Official Site

Watch it now

Cast

Thure Lindhardt
as Erik
Zachary Booth
as Paul
Julianne Nicholson
as Claire
Souleymane Sy Savane
as Alassane
Paprika Steen
as Karen
Miguel del Toro
as Igor
Justin Reinsilber
as Dan
Marilyn Neimark
as Herself
Sebastian Lacause
as Russ
Sarah Hess
as Katie
Roberta Kirshbaum
as Katie's Mom
Jamie Petrone
as Katie's Cousin
Maria Dizzia
as Vivian
Stella Schnabel
as Esther
Jodie Markell
as Jill
James Bidgood
as Himself
John Michael Cox, Jr.
as Himself
Henry Arango
as Himself
Agosto Machado
as Himself
Ed Vassallo
as Thomas
Calder Kusmierski Singer
as Club Kid
Shane Stackpole
as Luca
Chris Lenk
as Hustler
View All

News & Interviews for Keep the Lights On

Critics Consensus: The Words Doesn’t Know What To Say
View All

Critic Reviews for Keep the Lights On

All Critics (64) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (7)

  • Every frame pulses with hard-gained experience: it may be the most lived-in film of 2012, and certainly counts among the most moving.

    Nov 1, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    Mike McCahill

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • Monitoring the peaks and troughs of this fractious relationship is more fascinating than enjoyable.

    Nov 1, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Vadim Rizov

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • This is a painful drama, but its pain is more studied than emotive, and it demands that we think just as much as it makes us feel.

    Oct 30, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    Dave Calhoun

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • A complex and mysterious tale of a love affair, one that lacks the tidy story arc of a movie but feels real.

    Oct 25, 2012 | Full Review…

    J. R. Jones

    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic

  • When you summon memories of this film, they are almost always of two men in a room, in a default state of discontent.

    Oct 25, 2012 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

    Roger Ebert

    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic

  • A heart-breaking love story and call for emotional transparency in relationships.

    Oct 12, 2012 | Full Review…

    Liam Lacey

    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (64)

Audience Reviews for Keep the Lights On

  • Dec 09, 2015
    Keep the Lights On is brutally honest and devastating like love can be when ruined by drug addiction and by one person's dependence on another. Full review on filmotrope. com
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
  • Sep 10, 2014
    A word of warning: It took me several days to pick myself up off my own puddle of tears after watching this film. Keep the Lights On goes well beyond the boy-likes-boy storyline. It progresses as an alluring and intimate story of two charming men, Erik and Paul, meeting and tenderly falling for one another. But their soon-to-be romance tale is contorted by Paul's consistent drug abuse, landing him in hospitals and rehab centers. The damaging struggles they deal with tear at their relationship in this deeply moving yet cynically somber film. Ultimately, its striking realism makes it important viewing.
    DA Z Super Reviewer
  • Jul 08, 2013
    Mind numbingly dull.
    jay n Super Reviewer
  • Feb 07, 2013
    Sexy, romantic and realistic. It's a modern love story set in New York, where two people with their own difficulties come together and develops a relationship. Friends and family are also important elements in the film, the film has a great ensemble and amazing acting from Thure Lindhardt. The best part in the film is that it shows gay couples have problems of their own too, unlike most other films of this genre where everything goes on smoothly. The direction was brilliant, the timing in the film was brilliant and the soundtrack was great, script was also very cute and natural. It's a must see.
    Sylvester K Super Reviewer
See all Audience reviews

Keep the Lights On Quotes

There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.

News & Features