UNITED STATES
Collider
BY ADAM CHITWOOD JUNE 8, 2017
The true crime “docuseries” format is a relatively new phenomenon, but one that’s seen great success with watercooler shows like The Jinx and Making a Murderer. Netflix recently went all in on a new docuseries, The Keepers, which chronicles the murder of a nun in 1969 Baltimore, but what sets The Keepers apart from these others shows is its emotional core. While the series does indeed delve into the murder of Sister Cathy Cesnick, there’s an even more sinister undercurrent having to do with systemic sexual abuse by a Catholic priest at an all-girls school.
Throughout the series, director Ryan White maintains a laser focus on the survivors of this abuse, allowing them to tell their stories—no longer silenced. It makes The Keepers all the more emotionally involving and, in the end, long-lasting. It’s not a thrilling yet fleeting walk through a crime story. It’s a complex web of abuse that occurred and was allowed to occur by those in power, and one that’s taken years to fully uncover.
I recently got the chance to speak with White about the series. We discussed how he first became involved with this story, the evolution of its focus as time went on, aspects of the story that were left out of the finished series, and trying to keep everything together as the story got more and more convoluted. Given that there are so many unanswered questions we also addressed some theories regarding certain events and discussed the recent revelations having to do with Father Maskell as Baltimore continues to investigate Sister Cathy’s murder. It’s a wide-ranging interview that hopefully provides some insight into what it was like to bring this show to life, and the emotional impact that these stories had on White himself.
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