''The Keeping Hours'' is a 2017 American supernatural horror

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

Karen Moncrieff Karen Moncrieff (born December 20, 1963, in Sacramento, California) is an American actress, director and screenwriter. She is best known as the writer and director of critically acclaimed movies ''Blue Car'' and ''The Dead Girl'' '. Movies ...

and written by Rebecca Sonnenshine. The film stars

Lee Pace Lee Grinner Pace (born March 25, 1979) is an American actor. He is known for starring as Thranduil the Elvenking in ''The Hobbit'' trilogy and as Joe MacMillan in the AMC period drama television series '' Halt and Catch Fire''. He has also a ...

Carrie Coon Carrie Alexandra Coon (born January 24, 1981) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her starring roles as grieving mother Nora Durst in the HBO drama series '' The Leftovers'' (2014–2017) and as Gloria Burgle in the third s ...

and Sander Thomas. The film released on July 24, 2018, via

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on August 7, 2018 by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. Seven years after the death of their son, a divorced couple is suddenly reunited by supernatural events that offer them a chance at forgiveness.

Plot

The movie opens with a couple preparing for a wedding at their home. Mark and Elizabeth already have a son, Jacob. After eight years they make the relationship official, exchange wedding vows, and enjoy a day long reception with family and friends. Time flashes to the future with the couple divorced after the son was killed in an automobile accident. The father was driving and the mother thinks she failed to secure the boy's seat belt. Each blame the other parent and yet themselves for the tragic death. Mark is an attorney busy working at a large law firm. Elizabeth has remarried, wrote a book and lives in an expensive home with her step-daughters. Mark is bothered with tenants who abandoned the rented former marital home. Mark inspects the home where lights flicker and he hears strange noises. He hears footsteps and he finds Jacob's toys in the attic. He sees Jacob and passes out. After time and adjustment, Mark accepts Jacob's ghost as real. After Jacob asks Dad about Mommy, Mark brings Elizabeth to the home. She sees her son and thinks Mark has played some cruel trick on her. She learns to accept reality and is happy the boy is back in their lives. Neither parent can touch the boy. Mark quits his job to make time to be with Jacob. Elizabeth visits the house each day. Jacob tells his parents he wants things back to normal including the couple back together loving one another. They all do things to make up for lost opportunities. Mom reads bedtime stories and Dad plays games. Jacob wants that real train set that he never got. The couple become close again. They learn that Jacob can leave the house so they go to the beach, build sand castles, and watch a beautiful sunset. Jacob tells Mark that he pushed the red button that released the seat belt. Jacob caused his own death and Mark should not feel guilty and he should forgive Elizabeth. Elizabeth has been having nose bleeds and passes out after claiming to see her deceased mother. After an emergency room visit, Elizabeth tells Mark she stopped her depression medicine and the fainting was isolated and nothing to worry about. When Marj gets home, Jacob has his train set up and fully running. Jacob tells Mark that Elizabeth has to take a long train ride with him. Mark confronts Elizabeth and she tells him she has terminal cancer. Mark tells her that Jacob told him that he unlatched the seat belt and she was not at fault. Later, Jacob comes to his mother's hospital room; she hugs him, and they disappear into a white light.

Cast

as Mark Bennett - Father *

as Elizabeth Welles - Mother * Sander Thomas as Jacob - Son * Ray Baker as Lenn - Mark's father *

Amy Smart Amy Lysle Smart (born March 26, 1976) is an American actress. A native of Los Angeles, Smart began her career modelling in Italy and subsequently enrolled in acting school. Her first role in film was in director Martin Kunert's anthology horror ...

as Amy - Neighbor lady * Julian Latourelle as Dash - Neighbor boy * Ana Ortiz as Janice Trejada - Psychic medium *

Molly Hagan Molly Joan Hagan is an American actress. She co-starred in films ''Code of Silence'' (1985), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), ''The Dentist'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), and '' Sully'' (2016), and is also known for her roles in television on ...

as Daniels - Mark's boss *

Brianne Howey Brianne Nicole Howey (born May 24, 1989) is an American actress. She had main roles in the Fox series ''The Exorcist'' (2016) and '' The Passage'' (2019). She had a recurring role in the first season of The CW's superhero drama '' Batwoman'' (2 ...

as Caroline *

Anna Diop Mame-Anna Diop (born February 6, 1988) is a Senegalese-American actress and model. Since 2018, she has portrayed Kory Anders on the DC Universe / HBO Max series ''Titans''. Diop was also a series regular on The CW supernatural mystery '' The Messe ...

as Kate * Jane Daly as Elizabeth's Mom * Cliff Chamberlain as Smith - Elizabeth's new husband * Lylah Raye Acosta as Emma - Step-daughter * Ruby Moncrieff-Karten as Isabelle - Step-daughter

Production

On October 14, 2015, it was announced that

would direct a supernatural romance horror film scripted by Rebecca Sonnenshine, about two parents whose life together ends when their son dies in a car accident.

and

were cast in the film to play the parents, while

Jason Blum Jason Ferus Blum "Jason Ferus Blum was born in LA in 1969 to Shirley Neilsen, an art professor, and Irving Blum, an art dealer" (; born 1969) is an American film and television producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, whic ...

would produce the film through his

Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as '' Paranormal Activity'', '' Insid ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

on the film began on December 1, 2015 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, which ended on January 22, 2016.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping Hours, The 2010s romance films 2017 horror films American romantic horror films American horror thriller films American supernatural drama films American supernatural horror films American supernatural thriller films American haunted house films American horror drama films 2017 thriller films American ghost films Films about death Films shot in Los Angeles Films produced by Jason Blum Films directed by Karen Moncrieff Blumhouse Productions films 2017 drama films 2017 films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films