SOME THINGS ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR IN "THE KEEPING ROOM".

THE KEEPING ROOM

On digital download from 10th October 2016 and on DVD from 17th October 2016

The Keeping Room is a fresh take on the classic Western from the director of Harry Brown, subverting expectations with a strong young cast, including Brit Marling and Hailee Steinfeld delivering astounding performances. It sees trio of Southern women forced to take up arms and defend themselves and their home against renegade Union soldiers, with violent consequences.

Key talent:

Director
Daniel Barber (Harry Brown)

Cast:
Brit Marling (Arbitrage, The East)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Pitch Perfect 2) Sam Worthington (Avatar)
Kyle Soller (TV’s Poldark)
Muna Otaru (newcomer)

Synopsis:

In this radically reimagined American Western set towards the end of the Civil War, Southerner Augusta (Brit Marling, Arbitrage, The East) encounters two renegade, drunken soldiers (Sam Worthington, Avatar & Kyle Soller, BBC’s “Poldark”) who are on a mission of pillage and violence. After escaping an attempted assault, Augusta races back to the isolated farmhouse that she shares with her sister Louise

(Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit, Pitch Perfect 2) and their female slave Mad (newcomer Muna Otaru.) When the pair of soldiers track Augusta down intent on exacting revenge, the trio of women are forced to take up arms to fend off their assailants, finding ways to resourcefully defend their home––and themselves––as the escalating attacks become more unpredictable and relentless.

We like it because:

With female-angled films prominent in entertainment news at the moment thanks to Ghostbusters and the forthcoming all-women Ocean’s Eleven remake, The Keeping Room breaks new ground as a revisionist Western that gives us strong female characters and amazing performances along with all of the tropes that made us love the genre in the first place.

The Keeping Room has been winning over audiences on the festival circuit with prestigious appearances at the Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival to name a couple. All the while it’s been garnering acclaim for its performances from its central female trio: Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld and newcomer Muna Otaru, whose collaboration with director Daniel Barber seems a match made in film heaven.

Barber - best known for helming the thought-provoking Harry Brown, which had more than a few touches of the Western about it - deftly handles the gripping plot here, keeping the feminist undertone running while never keeping things cut and dry. The Keeping Room subverts our view of the American Civil War and who the “good” and “bad” guys were, challenging the audience as to which characters are on the “right” side of history. Is it the Southern women who bravely defend their home but also keep a slave? Or the Union soldiers who were fighting against slavery but have now become like monsters?

The Keeping Room is both intriguing and thoughtful as well as suspenseful and brutally violent, all the while remaining brilliantly entertaining thanks to captivating performances from Marling, Steinfeld and Otaru, setting themselves up as real ones to watch.

Hot quotes:

“...probably the most authentically unorthodox take on the genre you will see for a while.” - the Guardian

“Harrowing and distinctive” - NME

“Powerful” – Vulture

Special Features:

The Making Of The Keeping Room

           Audio Commentary with Julia Hart and Brit Marling