As a man struggles to save himself and his companion from a ghost in a haunted cabin, he starts to realize that his own demons are more frightening than any specter.  

SYNOPSIS:

Before the ‘Me Too’ movement started, I had started writing my script after my own assault. Like so many women in the movement, I trusted the person who eventually turned into a monster. So I began to wonder how the people we trust can appear to be normal while hiding their true nature. I was interested in duality, which is a pervasive theme throughout the script. Quiet as It's Kept is an R-rated surrealist horror film that is about a socially awkward young man who is trapped in a haunted cabin with a stranger who’s fatally wounded. As the man struggles to save himself and his companion from the ghost, he starts to realize that his own demons are more frightening than any spector.

Meet David. After waking up day after day having dreamed about his wife Eve’s gruesome death, he starts his day. Every day he goes to work where people pity him. Or in Nick’s case, a 20-something underling, tries to use his despondency to get ahead. Meanwhile, his partner Sid, a 30-year-old Steve Jobs, values David so little that he’s started selling the company without David’s knowledge. This is how little control David has over his own life. But the one thing he has to look forward to is Molly. Although David hasn’t spoken to her yet, he’s smitten. The problem is she doesn’t know David exists.

Frustrated by his home life, David decides to take Sid up on his offer and travel up to his cabin. It’s there that he finds Sarah, a 20 something doll-like woman. She has glass in her hair and lacerations on her face, but worst of all she has a jagged cut on her leg. Even though the cabin is falling apart it’s still more inviting than the howling snowstorm that’s threatening to envelope them. Once they’re inside the dimly lit space, David is free to panic. With meager supplies, he bandages Sarah up as best as he can, but it’s clear that she’ll need medical attention and soon.

David wakes up the next morning, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that it’s daylight at all. The cabin, which is already an unpleasant place, now feels extra claustrophobic now that the snow has piled up and shows no signs of stopping. But David has bigger concerns and now so does Sarah. Despite her leg injury, she was able to limp to the kitchen while David was asleep. She got ahold of a knife to defend herself from David, who is to her a complete stranger. And it doesn’t help that she has no idea who she is or how she got to the cabin. After realizing that they’re stuck together, for now, David and Sarah are cordial enough, but they have bigger problems.

Creaks and shadows don’t make a haunting. But in the small space, they feel menacing like someone’s breath on the back of your neck -- too close for comfort. Despite the strange occurrences, David and Sarah settle down for the night -- well, Sarah does. As David’s getting ready for bed, he stumbles upon a diary. Eve’s diary. And although he’s sleep deprived to the point of mental and physical decay, David can’t help but obsess over it. He learns that Eve and Sid were having an affair, but he can’t bring himself to verbalize the truth. Despite having not slept again, David is able to take care of Sarah the best he can. And although they both refuse to admit it, Sarah’s leg is getting worse. Her entire thigh is red and inflamed, but she bares it with grace. But just as they think they can relax, the lights flicker and extinguish. In a cabin as old as this it wouldn’t be alarming, but ever since they arrived the cabin seems to breathe. At first, it was a rattling breath, awakened after a slumber, but now it’s gained confidence and is tracking its guests’ movements.

As David descends into the basement to reset the breaker box, he’s immediately aware that something is awry. The walls are narrower, and the smell of rot permeates the coffin-like space. As he begins to methodically flip each switch, beads of sweat start to materialize on his brow even though the space is so cold he can see his breath. As soon as he draws in a shaky inhalation he’s transported into the forest where Eve died. Naked and out in the wilderness, David should feel some bit of relief for the fresh air, but he feels more isolated than ever.

That’s when he hears the sound of someone choking on their own blood. Asphyxiation in this manner is different. The gurgles seem to extend what is already a gruesome death. With nowhere to go, a barefooted David begins walking towards the sound. Then he sees her. Eve. She’s trapped in a mangled metal prison taking the last breaths of her too short life. Despite the wounds on David’s feet, he runs towards her and tries to pull her out. It’s no use. She’s going to die all over again. But David doesn’t give up, as he pulls at her disfigured limbs, Eve’s hand, suddenly dexterous, grabs David and tries to pull him in the car with her. David struggles to get away, but her super-human strength is too much for him when suddenly, he’s transported back into the basement.

Although David is terrified by the cabin and what’s inside of it, he can’t help but feel more alive than he has in months. As the haunting starts to escalate, David’s mental health starts to deteriorate. But he has to get Sarah out. So they descend into the basement again to try and find something to dig themselves out with. As they grope around in the darkness, David stumbles upon something, but he can’t tell what it is. He bends down, his face as close to the object as he can get, until he realizes what he’s been touching -- a body. Horrified, David and Sarah rush out of the basement, thankful to be in the relative safeness of the cabin’s ground floor. It’s then that David tells Sarah about the diary and his theory. He thinks that Sid killed Eve and the person, whoever they are, in the basement because they got too close. To what? David thinks that Sid wants to kill him to take his share of the profits from their company.

Frankly, the dead bodies that are stacking up are the least of their problems. Sarah’s wound has her completely incapacitated. With David on the brink of carrying Sarah down the mountain himself, Nick shows up with four-wheel-drive, a shovel, and a snowblower. They’re free. Just as Nick is ready to transport a severely weakened Sarah to his car, David attacks him from behind. Nick is dead. Sarah is next. The line between reality and David’s subconscious are completely blurred. Dissolving into his own madness, David no longer cares or realizes that Sarah’s life is coming to an end. He’s ready to give himself over to his delusions when Sid shows up.

Always considered to be David’s better half, David finally realizes just how true that is. Sid is a figment of his imagination; the part of himself that he keeps hidden. The ghost of Eve was also imagined after David couldn’t come to the terms with the fact that he killed her too. Even Sarah is a projection of David’s subconscious. Sarah is Molly. But now that David is aware of who he really is, he’s finally able to take control. He’s decided to kill Molly. But Molly’s always been a fighter. She does manage to escape from the cabin, but she can’t get too far on her leg. But it doesn’t stop her from being resourceful. She faces David one on one, ready to go out fighting. She doesn’t make it. And finally, David gets what he wants. Control.