Augusta (Brit Marling) and Louise (Hailee Steinfeld) are sisters struggling to stay alive with the help of a slave girl named Mad (Muna Otaru) on a once prosperous farm in the south near the end of the Civil War.

Their problems get worse when Louise wanders off and is bitten by a raccoon. Augusta heads off in search of medicine, a search that leads her to a bar in a nearby settlement where she catches the eye of two “bummers” — Moses and Henry — who are scouting for the Union Army.

With the help of their fierce looking dog named Battle, they track Augusta back to her farm. After all, they’re foraging for the Army. If the foraging happens to include the defilement of some pretty southern ladies, all the better. And they’re not afraid to kill in order to ensure no witnesses are left behind.

But Augusta is determined to protect her home and Louise, though that could be a daunting challenge since the three women have one musket and an antique handgun between them, and the entire Union Army is bearing down on the South.

Brit Marling as Augusta in The Keeping Room (2014)

Hailee Steinfeld as Louise in The Keeping Room (2015)

Review:

Brilliant opening sets for the stage for a surprisingly well done and tense little film about the struggle faced by the women of the South once the men marched off to war, particularly as the war came to a close.

Brit Marling’s Augusta has to play the role of father and mother for her younger sister Louise, all the while wondering what it’s like to be romanced by a man the way a pretty young woman of her age should be.

Meanwhile, Louise balks at chores, clings to memories of her aristocratic past and still regards Mad as a slave. But it’s Mad who can teach both sisters a thing or two about persevering in the face of a seemingly hopeless situation. Once the Union “bummers” reach the farm, all three have to band together in order to survive.

Fans who like their action fast and furious might not enjoy the slow pace of this film. But Barber serves up enough unexpected twists to keep the viewer guessing right up to an unexpected ending.

And, yep, the young woman playing Louise is the same actress who starred as Mattie Ross in the remake of “True Grit” (2010).

Muna Otaru as Mad in The Keeing Room (2014)

Sam Worthington as Moses in The Keeping Room (2014)

Directed by:
Daniel Barber

Cast:
Brit Marling … Augusta
Hailee Steinfeld … Louise
Sam Worthington … Moses
Muna Otaru … Mad
Kyle Soller … Henry
Ned Dennehy … Caleb
Amy Nuttall … Moll
Nicholas Pinnock … Bill
Anna-Maria Nabirye … Alma
Luminita Filimon … Prudence
Charles Jarman … Carriage driver
Delia Riciu … Mary
Zefir … Battle

Runtime: 94 min.

Kyle Soller as Henry with Brit Marling as Augusta in The Keeping Room (2014)

Nicholas Pinnock as Bill in The Keeping Room (2014)

Memorable lines:

Louise: “I don’t feel like hoeing. She’s the n—-r. She should do it.”
Augusta: “Like I told you, Louise. We’re all n—-rs now.”

Moses to Augusta: “Why don’t we just put down the guns? We can get a lot closer without them.”

Mad: “There’s many kinds of monsters in this world. You never know which one gonna be yours. Don’t know what happened to mine. Probably die all happy. But yours …”
Louise: “You killed him.”
Mad: “Right. Your monster dead.”

Mad: “When you gone learn? What don’t happen don’t matter. You just go on.”

Ned Dennehy as Caleb in The Keeping Room (2014)

Amy Nuttall as Moll in The Keeping Room (2014)

Moses to Augusta, of the Union Army: “Uncle Billy’s comin’, burnin’ down everything in his path. Rest assured, it will be cruel. Crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”

Moses: “Things could have been different.”
Augusta: “But they ain’t.”

Mad, watching a far-off battle: “Looks like the skies on fire.”
Augusta: “Looks like the whole world’s on fire.”