What The Keepers is all about without spoiling the show
The Keepers is a layered true crime documentary about more than the death of a nun in Baltimore. While the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik is a focal point of the story, there is a lot more to uncover.
Along with trying to find the murderer of Sister Cathy, The Keepers goes into different scandals involving the Catholic Church. Was someone in the church involved or was someone else in Sister Cathy’s life the one who ended her life?
At times, The Keepers deviates away from Sister Cathy’s murder entirely. Child molestation and abuse is a big topic in The Keepers. It makes this one of the darkest true crime documentaries out there.
Did you know anything about The Keepers before watching?
Something about The Keepers kept me away even before I began to watch true crime documentaries more regularly. I didn’t know anything about it other than the main subject involved a nun. I actually had the story confused with what happened in The Staircase. I was expecting The Keepers to be the story of a nun who got pushed down the stairs. It’s not about that at all.
Will The Keepers make people feel uncomfortable?
From start to finish, The Keepers is one of the most uncomfortable true crime documentaries. Because it does explore murder and child abuse, both in very specific detail, the grimness is constant. The Keepers sets a mood matching perfectly with the subject. Shots of the winter in Baltimore and the music choice are done perfectly. You may need to take a break for a while because every sense is attacked with darkness.
What was good about The Keepers?
The mood in this true crime documentary was gothic. The eerie images of something as simple as soon falling in Baltimore made it known that the audience would feel cold and trapped throughout. The Keepers has a perfect motif and sticks with it.
I should also give The Keepers kudos for being able to condense so much subject matter into a relatively short series. As previously mentioned, this is about more than a single murder. The Keepers involve everything sinister imaginable and a few things the darkest part of your mind wouldn’t dare dream of.
Some of my favorite true crime documentaries are the ones capable of covering more than one case. The Keepers kind of does this with everything eventually linking back to the murder of Sister Cathy. The suspects are plentiful. Their role in her life ranged greatly.
True crime fans who enjoyed the coldness of Paradise Lost: The Murder at Robin Hood Hills will find The Keepers coming close if not surpassing the chills.
What could The Keepers have done better?
The Keepers sticks with what it knows and it’s difficult to find much they could have done better other than find a solution to all of the questions asked. It’s a terribly sad documentary. After watching, we’re not even quite sure how much is real, what could be imagined, and who got away with what.
The Keepers is agenda-driven against the coverup of sexual abuse. It isn’t overly exaggerated. For this particular topic, it could have been pushed a little harder. Too many people were harmed in this story. I felt sick at the end. This isn’t the fault of the documentary makers. Society is to blame.
Is The Keepers worth watching?
If you can stomach one of the more gruesome true crime documentaries out there, yes. This is documentary is a dangerous web. We learn more bad things that happened each episode. We’re constantly introduced to someone who either looked the other way or took part in a heinous crime. The series itself is brilliant and one of the best out there. It’s worth a second-viewing.
Overall score: 10 out of 10
The Keepers is a hard yet worthy watch. It’s also an important one.
Interested in watching The Keepers or learning more about the case? Below you will find affiliate links to the series as well as other information about this case. By using this links, I may receive a small commission of any purchase you may make.
The Silence We Keep: A Nuna’s View of the Catholic Priest Scandal by Karol Jackowski
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