Rotten Tomatoes
Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

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
Watchlist 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.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

What Keeps You Alive

What Keeps You Alive

What to Know

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.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
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
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Boudicea R @BoudiceaR 10h 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. See more Andrew W. @andrewsky 2d Dumb doesn't begin to describe this idiotic movie. It completely falls apart with the heroine doing the dumbest most unbelievable things. Seriously, dont waste your time with this muddled mess of a movie See more Jade G @RT34506467 2d Looked like it could have been good, but the story started falling apart, taking the stiches out does nothing with the already stitch holes and the already healing process was not gonna pass for forensics. See more John W. @RT33662464 Apr 13 I really enjoyed this movie, I almost watched it again. See more Veontre J. @v3ontrej Jan 28 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 Jan 25 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 Read all reviews
What Keeps You Alive

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING
Rust Creek 85% 61% Rust Creek Watchlist TRAILER for Rust Creek Swallowed 82% 66% Swallowed Watchlist TRAILER for Swallowed The Wind 82% 49% The Wind Watchlist TRAILER for The Wind Pet Sematary 57% 33% Pet Sematary Watchlist TRAILER for Pet Sematary Us 93% 61% Us Watchlist TRAILER for Us Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

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 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