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Three women fight for their lives in the Civil War-era South in "The Keeping Room," a harsh and ultimately repellent drama.
With Gen. Sherman's forces having swarmed Georgia and making their way through South Carolina, two Union scouts (Sam Worthington, Kyle Soller) murder, rape and pillage a path ahead of the troops. Their attention is drawn to a farm inhabited by three women — older sister Augusta (Brit Marling), fragile younger sister Louise (Hailie Steinfeld) and their former slave Mad (Muna Otaru). What follows is a rough, nasty, brutal fight for survival, with Augusta fiercely determined to protect Louise and Mad at all costs.
Director Daniel Barber ("Harry Brown") is unflinching toward the violence of rookie writer Julia Hart's spartan script. Hart deserves praise for creating strong female characters, but that's tempered with her shallow vilification of those damn Yankees.
'The Keeping Room'
Opens Friday, Oct. 30, at the Tower Theatre; rated R for strong violence including a sexual assault; 95 minutes.