Running Time: 91 Minutes
Starring: Charles Cottier, George Pullar, Isabella Procida, Shuang Hu, Peter Thurnwald, Matthew Caffoe, Rebecca Barr
Based on the novella series by Vasilios Bouzas, Deathkeeper is the latest feature from director Tristan Barr (2022's Subject). The story follows the reclusive Luke (Charles Cottier), a near-immortal angel who fights for the forces of good. For centuries, he has protected the Book of Souls from Malagor (George Pullar), a fallen angel who wishes to create an army of the dead.
Armed with a holy gun and heavenly abilities, Luke is eternally cursed as a young man who ages whenever he saves lives. The only way he can reverse the process is by taking lives, a cycle which leaves the protagonist struggling to believe that he is making a difference. He finds hope for the future with Julie (Isabella Procida), a girl escaping her ex, but their shared attraction is at risk with rising murders caused by Malagor.
Stop me if you have heard this one, a protector cursed with immortality gives everything in his lonely war against evil, leaving him within a tragic supernatural romance. While they are familiar tropes, particularly calling to mind the excellent David Boreanaz series Angel, what matters is how they are executed. It is not fair to compare this feature to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, but even when considering Deathkeeper on its own terms, the result is not a fond one.
What should be central to this story are the relationships, as viewers buy into the bonds which make the immortal protagonist's life a little less lonely. Instead, a bizarre choice is made to relegate such moments to montages, leaving it a struggle for the relationships to feel believable. There is only so much that the sub-Hollyoaks acting can convey when the writing gives them little to work with.
This also extends to individual decisions made by the characters, as the actions that should feel authentic to the on-screen figures instead feels like a half-hearted way to move the plot forward. Take Julie, who is introduced as repeatedly checking who is calling her so that she can dodge her ex's calls. When the story reaches the third-act, she answers the phone without looking and inadvertently speaks to the one person that she was avoiding. If there was a way to make such a moment work instead of feeling contrived, that method was not discovered for this film.
When instances are meant to raise the stakes for the plot and the characters, it sadly comes off as disingenuous. But, when the villain barely feels like a presence due to disappearing for much of the runtime, it is difficult to sell what is at risk against the evil forces. As a result, this battle between the heavenly and the demonic feels like an overcooked backstory for a half-baked romance.
Despite the intrusive voiceover which spells out the mythology, there is a feeling that little makes sense within this derivative narrative. The execution needed much work, because Deathkeeper is a slog that makes the cardinal sin of feeling longer than its short runtime.
Deathkeeper made its World Premiere at FrightFest Glasgow 2026
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