Keeper (2025) ending explained: The creatures, the honey jar and the Mellified Man

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Keeper (2025) leaves viewers with many questions. Today, we explain the ending, the creatures, and Malcolm’s dark secret. Major spoilers ahead.

Liz and Malcolm celebrate their anniversary

Keeper begins with a montage of different women’s faces, some of which are screaming. We are going to be learning more about these people later on. We are then introduced to our two main characters, Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland, The Retreat (2021)) and Liz (Tatiana Maslany, The Monkey (2025)). Malcolm is a doctor and Liz is an artist who appears to have lost her passion.

It’s the couple’s one year anniversary so Malcolm has arranged a getaway to his family’s secluded cabin in the woods (this can only end well). There’s a cake waiting for them on a kitchen counter that Malcolm says is a gift from the caretaker of the cabin.

Liz looks upon it with suspicion. Perhaps because she absolutely hates chocolate or maybe because she senses something sinister about the cake like the possibility of it being gluten free? (yuk!)

Liz is, by all accounts, a city girl and feels a bit out of place staying in the woods. Still, she wants to spend time with the otherwise busy Malcolm so she plays along. We will learn, later on, that this is the place where Malcolm actually grew up. Just across from the cabin is Malcolm’s cousin Darren’s (Birkett Turton) place. We will be meeting him shortly.

What are the sounds Liz hears coming from the basement?

As Liz takes a bath, she believes she hears voices coming from the air vent. These voices and sounds are coming from the creatures that live in the house. We are going to be learning more about them later.

At dinner, the couple are surprised by the appearance of cousin Darren who Malcolm claimed wouldn’t be bothering them. Darren is accompanied by a young model named Minka (Eden Weiss) from Eastern Europe.

Darren asks Malcolm to come and chat with him in private leaving Liz and Minka alone. Sensing something amiss, Liz asks Minka whether she is okay. Minka motions to the chocolate cake before stating that it “tastes like shit“. This is obviously a little strange as Darren claimed she didn’t speak English.

How did Minka know what the cake tasted like?

Minka knew what the cake tasted like because she had eaten a slice of the very same type of cake given to her by Darren in his cabin. Minka is acting strangely because the slice of cake was spiked with sleeping tablets designed to knock her out. That’s why it tastes like shit.

Malcolm apologises for the interruption and the pair get back to some smooching and whatnot. Despite Liz being keen to get down to business, Malcolm is far more concerned with her trying the cake. Again, another glaring hint that this dude is utterly bizarre. Liz, despite hating chocolate, agrees before declaring that it tastes like shit.

While she sleeps, Liz has a nightmare where she sees the faces of screaming women as well as the figure of a heavily pregnant woman who looks identical to her. She wakes and is drawn to the fridge where the cake resides, consuming it all in one sitting like the kid from Matilda.

Who killed Minka?

Minka is about to be killed (or in this case, have her soul taken) by one of the creatures we will meet later in the film. The next day, in what appears to be the very early morning, we see Minka running through the woods.

Darren drugged her with the cake and left her there as a sacrifice to the creatures so that he can maintain his eternal youth. She is now out in the open and being chased by one of the creatures. Hiding behind a tree from some unseen threat, she is suddenly snatched and dragged up the tree where she is killed.

Why does Malcolm look scared when he wakes up?

Malcolm wakes up abruptly, noticing Liz’s absence. He appears to be seriously concerned as he stares at the ceiling looking for something unseen. He is terrified about the possibility of one of the creatures being on the loose in his room.

Heading downstairs, he discovers Liz scribbling something at the table in a trance like state. She is drawing the faces of the terrified women she saw in her dream. While on a walk together, Malcolm finds Liz inexplicably drawn to a stream that runs near the house.

In the water, Liz finds a pendant with a photo inside of it. We don’t see the photo straight away but, later on, we will learn that the photograph was that of a woman who looked exactly like Liz. The very same woman, in fact, that Liz saw in her dream.

Why does Malcolm leave Liz alone?

Malcolm is terrified that one of the creatures has escaped and will kill him if it has the chance. With this in mind, he realises that he needs to leave. He makes up an excuse that he needs to tend to a dying patient.

This is a lie, there is no patient. Malcolm just needs to get out of the house to save himself. He promises he will be back at six so, to entertain herself, Liz calls her best friend Maggie on the phone. Liz explains how out of place she feels at the cabin which concerns Maggie.

Maggie offers to pick her up before making the suggestion that perhaps Malcolm is not being honest. Perhaps he actually has a wife and he is heading to the city to meet her. Liz might just be a side-chick. Naturally, this angers Liz who hangs up on her. Things are about to start getting really strange, though.

Liz begins having visions of spirits

Liz heads to the sink to drink some water straight from the tap like a reprobate before she turns around and is shocked to see Minka sitting there. We know Minka is dead so how does this happen? Well, she is now part of the creatures in the house. They have absorbed her soul.

Liz asks her how she got inside, to which Minka replies that “she is inside now“. Again, this is true because she is now inside one of the creatures. We will learn more about this in just a little.

A little mini-Minka appears out of nowhere which naturally startles Liz. She turns away to see whether Darren is somewhere in the vicinity of the house looking for Minka. When she turns back, a bloodied Minka stands right in front of her face. Minka tells her to be quiet because she will wake the children.

She places her hand over Liz’s face and shows her a vision – it’s the heavily pregnant woman who looks just like Liz, the one she has been dreaming of. Minka explains that “this is why the children think that Liz is their mother” before Liz apparently passes out, waking later next to a bottle of wine. Was it just a drunken hallucination?

Why does Darren arrived at the cabin?

Darren is about to arrive at the cabin and for a very specific reason. He is there to kill the creature that is wandering around the house. Malcolm called him and told him to come over. Liz realises she has spilled some wine so heads to the basement to find cleaning products, leaving her phone down there in the process.

Her attempts to clean that awful stain are interrupted by Darren appearing at the cabin door. He insists on coming in before convincing the very reluctant Liz to share a drink with him. Liz heads to the bathroom, seemingly to call Malcolm, forgetting that she doesn’t have her phone.

As she hides, Darren retrieves a meat cleaver and stalks the house, unaware that he is being watched. He isn’t trying to kill Liz here. They need Liz to be sacrificed to the creatures. She has no value dead; he is trying to find the creature that Malcolm told him was on the loose.

When Liz finally leaves the bathroom, she makes her way to the basement and calls Malcolm. He doesn’t reply so she leaves a message explaining that Darren has arrived and asking Malcolm to come home. Liz is suddenly distracted by music playing loudly. She heads upstairs and checks the garbage disposer in the sink and finds a watch.

What happened to Darren?

Darren was actually murdered by the creature that was stalking him through the house. The very same one that caused Malcolm to leave the house abruptly. The creature dropped Darren’s arm into the sink, seemingly to leave the watch there for Liz to find. This watch belonged to Darren, you see it clearly when he grabs the meat cleaver.

Liz, distraught at what she has found, is shocked once again to see a woman suddenly sitting behind her with a plastic bag over her head. The apparition vanishes without a hint, leaving Liz feeling terrified.

She calls Maggie and apologises for hanging up on her but the cellphone reception is awful. It actually sounds like Maggie is mocking her. She gives up on the call and, once again, seemingly senses a presence in the house.

Malcolm suddenly returns earlier than he stated. Liz relates the weird things that happened and how Darren had come over but disappeared. She also tells Malcolm that she wants to leave but he manages to convince her to stay and share a bottle of wine with him.

Malcolm makes a big mistake!

Malcolm slips up by completely forgetting the name when Liz asks him how the patient he abruptly left to deal with was doing. He tries to cover it up by pretending he simply forgets quickly due to his job and needing to cope with loss but she doesn’t believe him. Liz, seemingly very uneasy, locks herself in the bathroom, thoroughly convinced that Maggie was right and that he is actually married.

Malcolm comes to the door and asks her if she is okay. Liz confronts him about where he really was but he tries to reassure her that he doesn’t have a wife. Liz, once again, hears something from the air vent in the bathroom. She then notices a picture on the floor.

The picture is extremely old and shows Malcolm standing with a woman and two children but how could this be? Before she has a chance to work it out, Malcolm comes through the door. The lock was purely decorative and doesn’t actually lock at all.

Liz asks him about the photo and tells him she wants to leave right now. He tells her he understands but that he simply can’t let her leave. We see a brief flashback to this exact scenario having happened in the past with another woman. Malcolm has a big super villain speech to get through and Liz is going to have to endure every second of it.

Was Malcolm setting Liz up?

Yes, Malcolm was setting Liz up the entire time and he is about to explain why. Malcolm encourages Liz to come and sit on the sofa. There, he tells her that he never wanted her to suffer because he does actually love her.

He tells her that what is about to happen is the purest example of love one could possibly imagine. It’s not from him, though. It’s an example of the purest form of love from Liz, because she is giving him life.

Liz still thinks this is just about Malcolm actually having a family but she is hugely mistaken. Malcolm mentions the cake; it was intended to knock her out to make her an easy victim but Liz actually ate the entire thing.

Malcolm alludes to the creatures that Liz has been seeing and asks whether they appear to her as women? He tells her that they are actually not women, they are monsters. Liz is, naturally, confused so Malcolm explains.

How is Malcolm over 200 years old?

Malcolm is actually over 200 years old because he has been receiving gifts from the creatures living in the woods in exchange for feeding them the souls of young women.

Over 200 years ago, Malcolm and Darren saw a heavily pregnant woman on their land in the creek where Liz found the pendant. The woman looked exactly like Liz. In fact, it’s the same woman Liz has been seeing in her dreams. They had seen her many times before dancing naked under the moonlight.

Due to her trespassing, the pair shot her in the leg and dragged her into their barn where they left her to die. When they returned, she had given birth but there was no baby in sight.

The thing that she gave birth to was not human and there was more than just one. The pigs were gone, likely eaten, and the barn was a mess. They executed the woman on the spot. As Liz begs to be let go, Malcolm explains that the creatures have been granting him and Darren wishes ever since.

The pair have been gifted with eternal life and, in return, they allow the creatures to live in their houses and the woods. When their cries of hunger become too loud, they feed them. Their food of choice? Young women, apparently and that is exactly what Liz is there for. As long as the creatures keep being fed, they will keep granting Darren and Malcolm a longer life.

Does Malcolm want to feed Liz to the creatures?

Yes! Malcolm has every intention of feeding Liz to the creatures and that’s the exact reason why he has brought her to the cabin. He will feed her to them and, in exchange, they will grant him a longer life.

Minka was already fed to the creatures earlier in the film, she was Darren’s sacrifice so that he can continue living forever. Many other women in the past have been fed to the creatures, too. These are the women Liz has been seeing in her visions.

Liz, now realising her impending fate, once again begs for her life, reminding Malcolm that he loves her. He says he does and that’s why he won’t stick around to watch or listen when she is consumed.

He tells her she is going to die. Malcolm begins to leave as we hear the creatures approaching. He makes an interesting statement here that hints at something quite disturbing.

He remarks that, compared to his neighbours, him and Darren are perfect gentlemen. This suggests that the entire area is aware of the creatures and everyone is bringing them sacrifices in exchange for wishes. It also suggests that the neighbours enjoy the process, perhaps torturing their victims before giving them to the creatures.

Do the creatures have magical powers?

Liz tries to escape but Malcolm tells her the creatures have sealed the place with their magic. The creatures can lock the doors and keep victims in using their specific powers. They are actually magical which is how they have been managing to warn Liz.

Sometimes the creatures would appear physically in front of her. Other times they would project a spiritual image to her, as was the case when Liz saw two versions of Minka at the same time. As Liz attempts to get her phone working, a creature begins descending the basement stairs.

Meanwhile, we see Malcolm heading into a room to play some music and drink, seemingly to drown out the sound of Liz being consumed. He’s about to be in for a rude awakening.

What was in the Jar?

The creatures surround Liz. One of the creatures pulls the preserved head of their mother out of a jar of honey. The disembodied head has one gunshot wound which is the giveaway that it was their mother who was executed by Darren and Malcolm in exactly that fashion.

The creature wearing a bag on its head approaches Liz directly. Liz asks the creature who it is. It says, “we are your children, and all the women that came before”. The creature removes the bag from its head to reveal that it has numerous faces.

What did the creature mean by “all the women that came before”?

It becomes clear that the creatures are not killing the women, as such. They are absorbing their souls into their own. The faces are those of the many different women that were fed to the creatures, including Minka which is why her apparition said that she is now “inside”.

She actually was inside; still living, just as part of the creatures. All of the women that had been brought to the creatures by Darren and Malcolm still exist, only as a part of the creatures. The creatures are able to manifest these women and take on their forms. This is why Liz saw the women throughout the house. Again, sometimes as spiritual visions, other times in actual physical form.

Malcolm has brought them many women. He has kept souvenirs of each in a secret room, much like a serial killer, and stacks them in boxes. He even introduces them as if they are still alive and not just collections of the women’s belongings. It’s shocking to think of how many souls may be living inside of these creatures.

Why don’t the creatures kill Liz?

The creatures don’t harm Liz because Liz looks exactly like their mother, thus the creatures believe she is their mother. They have absolutely no intention of killing or hurting her. Instead, they embrace her as she laughs and screams maniacally.

While it is never really explained what happens here, it is very clear that the creatures used their magical powers to turn Liz into one of them. Again, as Malcolm clearly stated earlier in the film, these creatures are very much magical.

What happened to Liz?

Liz was never killed by the creatures; instead, she has become one of them. Her eyes are black and, while she retains some of her humanity, she now has some of the creature’s magical powers too. The creatures are protecting her and she is, essentially, kin to them. It’s as if their mother has returned from the dead.

Malcolm hears Liz screaming and turns up his music, believing she is being consumed like the many women who came before her. Later that night, he heads to bed, assuming that she is gone. He suddenly wakes up coughing furiously like an old man.

What happened to Malcolm?

Malcolm didn’t fulfill his end of the bargain with the creatures so he will no longer be gifted with eternal life. In fact, he is about to become his actual age, over 200, in mere minutes. The reason for that is quite simple.

The creatures never killed or consumed Liz. She is very much alive so, in essence, Malcolm has reneged on his end of the bargain by not providing them with a girl. In return, he immediately ages enormously, effectively making him 200 years old in seconds and haggard to a point of being unable to even speak.

Liz, now one of the monsters with black eyes, wants revenge so has hung Malcolm by his feet. She wants to feed him the drugged cake but not so that he passes out and doesn’t suffer; it’s more of a symbolic act of revenge.

He tells her that he never wanted to hurt her but she replies that “he didn’t”. He says she was the one he really loved. Liz replies that he probably says that to all the girls. He willingly eats the cake before Liz places his head in a jar of honey to suffocate him, thus preserving it the way the creatures preserved their mother’s head.

This could be a reference to the “Mellified Man“. An old Chinese medicinal process where elderly men were placed in honey to preserve their bodies. This essentially created a healing salve that was said to be able to cure broken bones and illness. It’s also a nice play on Malcolm’s desire for eternal life by any means. He will be preserved forever, now.

The creatures were real and not a trauma manifestation

It’s important to note, before we explain anything else, that these creatures aren’t just manifestations of Liz’s trauma or hallucinations caused by the drugged cake. These things are flesh and blood. They physically killed Darren, they aged Malcolm using their powers, and they have been living in the woods and house for 200 years.

Liz didn’t just snap mentally; she was inducted into a very real, very physical coven of monsters. These creatures were birthed in the barn, actually embraced Liz, and were very much real in the context of the film. But where did they come from?

Where did the creatures come from?

It’s probably fair to say that, for the most part, Keeper is an original folk-horror story but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t draw on some very familiar folklore. More specifically, that of witches in England. It’s always important to remember that the USA features a lot of English folklore when it comes to their storytelling and this seems like one such case.

English witch trials would describe witches nursing familiars. These familiars weren’t born, as such, but given to them by the devil. These familiar were, essentially, imp-like, fairies, or even demonic creatures and had the ability to grant favours.

I believe that the woman dancing naked in the stream under the moonlight (moonlight frequently suggests increased magical powers in folklore) hints that she might be a witch.

Her children are almost like imps, fairies, or fetches, exchanging power for gifts, usually of the flesh or blood nature, and frequently with dire consequences for the recipient. A lot of what we see in this film lines up with Celtic, English, Salvic, Germanic, and Balkan folklore. Naturally, with a modern spin, but very similar in principle.

In fact, you can even throw in the honey we see repeatedly and the cake as another indicator that Keeper’s story is an amalgamation of many different traditional folklore tales. They are extremely common themes in folklore history. There is another potential link here to a classic tale from Medieval France. Let’s take a look at that.

It could be viewed as a modernisation of Bluebeard (La Barbe bleue)

Bluebeard is a French folktale from a long time ago. It basically consists of a wealthy man taking a young woman to his castle but forbidding her from entering one room. This room hides the bodies of the previous wives he has murdered to maintain his lifestyle.

Malcolm brings Liz to a secluded cabin, hides his past, gaslights her, and has murdered previous women over 200 years. Malcolm’s behaviour perfectly mimics the Bluebeard archetype of being charming yet very manipulative with an ultimate goal to murder his new lover when she finds out the truth.

Malcolm even tries to calm Liz down with alcohol in a direct thematic translation of how Bluebeard would control his partner’s emotions. Liz’s visions show the “room” in which he hides evidence of his crimes. It’s metaphorical, physical, and supernatural, but it’s the same concept and contains:

• evidence Liz isn’t the first victim
• spirits of past victims who try to warn her
• creatures tied to those deaths that haunt the house
• the hidden murderous past of her partner

In Bluebeard, the woman discovers the truth but is rescued by her brothers. In Keeper, she is rescued by the creatures themselves who have spent the entire film trying to warn her. It’s a sort of feminist flip on the story. I might be reaching a little here but I found it kind of fascinating when I got to thinking about it.

And that is that…

I think we can make the assumption here that Liz probably went on to enjoy life as a black eyed creature. I can’t imagine she would fit in with normal society now, right? Either way, she gets her revenge and Darren and Malcolm’s reign of terror comes to an end.

Thanks so much for reading. Why not stick around and check out some horror movie lists? We are right in the thick of our Festive Frights season so get stuck in with some Christmas horror movies. Take care and hopefully we will see you again soon.

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