UNITED STATES
EW
JEFF JENSEN @EWDOCJENSEN
POSTED ON MAY 10, 2017
In The Keepers, the pain of the past morphs from curiosity to responsibility. For journalist Tom Nugent, the past is a paying puzzle that became an obligation to solve. For retirees Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub, the past is a hobby that grew into a crusade. And for a woman known for decades only as “Jane Doe,” the past is a forgotten trauma that rocks her anew and reframes her life. In a culture of comic book escapism and stranger things, The Keepers gives us ordinary people as superheroes. They’re the real justice league of Baltimore.
A seven-part Netflix docuseries dropping May 19 (four of which were made available for review), The Keepers is addictive serial made for the post-Serial market, synthesized with the compounds that have rejuvenated this very old, often dubious genre and made it a buzzy, conscionable kick. Director Ryan White gives you socially aware pulp nonfiction, driven by cliffhanger storytelling and advocacy. But he tweaks the recipe somewhat by redirecting our gaze, profiling the victims of evil and those who would champion them — not the evildoers. The cold case he’s chosen to re-investigate also frustrates the pleasures of true crime in some provocative ways. Here, what is true may ultimately be unknowable, and the crime might be impossible to rectify. The nettling ambiguities provoke valuable questions for reality pulp junkies at a time when the genre is transitioning from pop phenomenon to pop fixture, complete with prestige expressions and celebrity roadshow fandom. Why am I entertained by suffering? How do I know what’s true? Do I really care?
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