En defensa propia

A thinly plotted , mainly slow but often tense Civil War piece with three fine lead performances and a good rather different one from Sam Worthington. An interesting take on what happens when law breaks down in a soon to be defeated land.

I like this movie and i'm surprised some feel differently towards it. It was cool to see the war coming from a woman's perspective and show the horrors of the woman trying to defend their home and themselves.

It showed how at the end of the Civil War that it was violent and it also showed women didn't have much respect. We noticed that it showed not only the woman's perspective but the man's as well.

Many could say they view this movie differently but I viewed it as showing how strong women were in this time period and to show the destruction the Civil War caused.

I personally recommend this movie for learning purposes as well as to get an insight on the different perspectives of the Civil War.

I am surprised to see that some people do not like this movie. May be they did not get the message this movie is sending. First , this movie wants to give you the sense of the violence and rampage that some stray Union soldiers conducted during the U.S. civil war which has seldom been reported in history. Second , it wants to show you the hardship and misery of those days' women who were left alone , to live and survive by themselves , when their husbands left for war. Third , it wants to convey this message to women , based on movie's currents of events , that , if they are united, resilient and determine, they then can overcome and survive the worst threats. Fourth , it tells women that they must learn everything they need to learn to defend themselves , that is , how to fight , how to shoot , how to plan against intruders and how to rely on themselves to survive. It tells them how to believe in themselves in that they can overcome dangerous situations during the coarse of their lives. I believe the director and scenario writer have done a superb job in conveying this message to its viewers.

Watched this without reading reviews and was pleasantly surprised. Acting is phenomenal, and the movie feels real to the 1865 era. All three lead female actresses were outstanding.

There's a merit on doing all female leads drama thriller set on volatile era of Civil War, especially when there's social prejudice involved. However, aside from some admittedly fine performance, the movie feels clunky and slow. It doesn't have the intricacy or characterization beyond the basic formula of "there are bad men coming", and even that takes the film about half its runtime to get the pace going.

This is the story of three women, one of whom is colored, as they defend their home from outsiders. Each woman might not be easily relatable at first, but the acting as well as decent investment time to them manage to deliver a few heavy thought provoking and intimate scenes. Brit Marling as the oldest one keeps a strong presence even though her character may be lacking in term of actual strength.

Muna Otaru as Mad, the colored housekeeper or technical maid, has a unique personality as the caretaker of the girls and also her own woman. As for the antagonist Sam Worthington makes do, he's decent but his motivation doesn't have the same focus as the girls', which means less connection to the character as he basically stumbles on the predicament he himself creates. The cinematography works by keeping an intentionally bleak and less stylish version of Wild West.

This is a deliberate pace for drama, not action or thriller. It does feel terribly slow at times, not in a good Tarantino build up style. Furthermore, there's not much cat-and-mouse cerebral standoff, which feels like a missed opportunity, especially when it could've used the setting as intense backdrop. Panic Room with Jodie Foster had trade of wit between protagonist and antagonist that created depth and utilized its premise, while here it's more of random gunslinging action.

The Keeping Room has a couple of good performances, especially geared towards heavy themes such as race prejudice and violence towards women. However, instead of putting more focus on home invasion to elevate the drama, its slow pace removes any thrill to what could've been a powerful commentary of an era and its lingering issues.