What Keeps You Alive
IFC Midnight | Release Date: August 24, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
IndieWireJamie RighettiAug 23, 2018
Despite a few predictable beats, What Keeps You Alive offers plenty of effective jolts, helped along by the chemistry between leads Anderson and Allen. Read full review
80
CineVueKatie DriscollSep 6, 2018
What Keeps You Alive is a gorgeous rural revenge featuring two strong lead performances, a blood-stained, thicketed idyll, and some moments of dark humour – or cathartic victory – depending on how you view your current or past relationships. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayAug 23, 2018
Allen and Anderson are outstanding in roles that require a lot of levels and moods, as the central relationship goes from loving to shaky to … well, something else. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJason ZinomanAug 23, 2018
True horror fans will forgive its shortcomings since they serve the greater good of gorgeous gore and stunningly staged scenes. Read full review
78
Film Journal InternationalMaitland McDonaghAug 23, 2018
Writer-director Colin Minihan’s thriller is tightly plotted and delivers a couple of terrific shocks, shocks that are firmly rooted in character Read full review
75
The VergeTasha RobinsonSep 6, 2018
The film makes a strong argument for the value of artistry in horror. Stark colors and an active camera, chasing or leading the characters, give the whole film a sense of intensity and dynamism. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerAug 24, 2018
The action is grim and not without gore. Heebies, jeebies and even willies will be left on theatre floors like so much stray popcorn and spilled soda. 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. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloAug 24, 2018
Minihan’s stylish film taps into our deepest fear as women, queer folks, or survivors of domestic abuse that the person we love may be the reason we end up in a body bag. Read full review
64
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpAug 21, 2018
What Keeps You Alive’s forthright quality feels refreshing, and Minihan’s craft is a major plus, too. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenAug 20, 2018
If Hannah Emily Anderson's performance was as fully imagined as Brittany Allen's, then What Keeps You Alive might have attained the emotional dimensions of a robust psychodrama. Read full review
60
Film ThreatMatthew PassantinoSep 6, 2018
Directed by Colin Minihan, What Keeps You Alive is an exercise in extreme style and visual trickery in the hopes of keeping the tension high. He isn’t subtle when dropping clues, cutting to an object more than a couple times as to warn us this will be important at some point. Working from his own script, the movie deserves some credit for not always arriving at the most obvious conclusions, even if it takes a well-trodden path. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveySep 3, 2018
This thriller about a lesbian couple whose weekend takes a drastic turn is less one-note as a narrative conceit than “It Stains the Sand Red,” though it too ultimately stretches inspiration a tad thin. Nonetheless, it’s an entertaining and well-crafted effort. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMatt PriggeAug 23, 2018
Minihan’s ambitions are towering, so it’s only right to note that he doesn’t quite get there. The ideas, even the emotions, don’t develop and grow. Read full review
50
The Film StageMike MazzantiAug 23, 2018
For die-hard genre fans looking for a disturbed and relatively brief affair, there may be enough here to enjoy. However, if you want a consistently engaging thrill ride packed with enough ideas to contend with the bloodshed, perhaps look elsewhere. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeAug 23, 2018
Colin Minihan's What Keeps You Alive sets itself up promisingly enough before succumbing to a progression of implausibilities and excesses that test even this genre's lenient standards. Read full review
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