SXSW 2024 7 Keys Review- Excellent Performances And An Interesting Concept Combine

There are far too few erotic thrillers being made. The 80s and early 90s were rich with them. Basic Instinct, Sliver, Dressed To Kill, Body Heat, Fatal Attraction, and a personal favorite, Body Double, were all great entertainment and had a specific shared vibe. They dripped with tension, sex, and anticipation. Writer and director Joy Wilkinson’s 7 Keys is one of those sorts of films but turned on its head. Premiering at SXSW 2024 in the Visions category, 7 Keys is everything you could want from a high-concept thriller stripped down, allowing the actors to shine.

The film starts with a promising if dangerous dalliance. Lena and Daniel are young, lonely, and in the right place at the right time to meet each other. Unfortunately, things quickly spiral out of control, and fortunately for the viewer, it happens in entirely unpredictable ways. To say more would spoil the fun, but suffice it to say, nothing is as it seems. Fantastic performances, interesting camera work, and stellar production design make 7 Keys an excellent debut film from Wilkinson.

Excellent performances from Emma McDonald and Billy Postlethwaite hold down the essentially two-hander. McDonald, as Lena, is full of caged heat and unpredictability. Her character arc is the most profound, and McDonald does an admirable job of showing the full gambit of emotions. Postlethwaite, the other half of the ill-fated partnership Daniel, wears his early fragility like a scarlet letter. His physical performance is muscular, giving Daniel complexity. The pair meet when both of their dates stand them up. Quickly, the sexy first meeting turns south, with Lena showing some serious stalking tendencies and displaying more than a little manic behavior. Even though she was the first we are introduced to, it is Daniel we feel early concern for.

In between passionate kisses, Lena notices that Daniel has a massive keyring full of keys, which he explains are from all his past residences. For reasons that should ring bells, he has kept the keys. Lena, however, is spontaneous and used to chaos because of her upbringing. She suggests they use the keys to shag on the grave of every one of his previous homes. Lena reasons that it is a holiday weekend, and she is willing to bet most of the current residents will be gone. It’s a weird kink, but Daniel is talked into trying it, and off they go to place that key number one unlocks. Inside, they do the typical mix of sex and petty crimes. They don’t steal anything beyond a bit of food, and they don’t destroy any property. It’s all just a minor crime spree disguised as foreplay.

We have seen this kind of story before, but the subtle shifts make 7 Keys so successful. The leads have a genuine, palatable chemistry. Even when it becomes clear neither party is who they seem, you are still engrossed by them. You are invested in their story, and a natural curiosity about Daniel’s previous homes and roommates keeps us watching.

The production design is incredibly clever, with Natasha Jenkins defining who each of the inhabitants of the flats are with the things in their houses. We feel as if we know them and know details about their life simply because of the choice of decorations on the table and what they have in their refrigerators. That becomes more important as the film goes along. Wilkinson’s film feels like a snapshot of the varying parts of the city. We get to know them intimately through Lena and Daniel. The places that the keys unlock and the sundry residents, even if we don’t always meet them, flesh out the city in an exciting and vibrant way.

What could have been a trite story about the dangers of stranger sex is something more interesting in the final sequence, which is interesting because of how and what Wilkinson chooses to shoot. As a seasoned genre writer, her history with science fiction and thrillers is evident. When speaking with her at SXSW 2024 her love for strong heroines and 80’s science fiction films comes through. The final impressive sequence will remind fans of Terminator without overtly copying it. 7 Keys is a solid first film for Wilkinson and proves she is here to stay.