If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if someone tried to remake The Conjuring, The Wardrobe from Narnia, and a Shopee furniture haul video at the same time, look no further than The Gatekeeper (2024) — a film so confused, it feels like it was directed by an actual demon with short-term memory loss.
Billed as a “supernatural mystery folk horror,” it delivers on exactly one of those words: “horror”, in the sense that it’s horrifyingly boring.
The Plot: A Cabinet, Trauma, and The Underworld Walk Into a Bar…
The movie stars Shanaia Gomez as Cita, an antiques dealer with trauma so extensive it probably needs its own IMDb page. She discovers a mysterious cabinet that once belonged to a priest who died under “unusual circumstances.” Based on the film’s writing, my guess is he watched an early cut of the script.
This cabinet is the center of the story. It’s supposed to be creepy, dangerous, occult… but the production design gives us something that looks like a prop rejected from a haunted house attraction because it was “too unstable” and “smelled weird.”
The premise is essentially:
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Girl finds cabinet.
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Cabinet is evil.
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Trauma intensifies.
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Underworld-related chaos (almost) occurs.
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Roll credits before anything that might require a special effects budget happens.
It’s like the writers Googled “folk horror plot,” copied the first result, and replaced all nouns with “cabinet.”
Cita: A Woman, A Past, A Cabinet
Shanaia Gomez tries her best — bless her — but there is only so much emotional clarity a human can deliver when acting opposite a piece of furniture. Her performance alternates between:
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wide-eyed panic,
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sad staring,
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sweaty fear, and
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“I can’t believe I agreed to this.”
Her character’s trauma is frequently referenced but never explained in a way that matters to the story. It’s as if the scriptwriters confused “character depth” with “random emotional suffering.”
At one point, Cita gazes into the cabinet like she’s waiting for it to tell her who her real father is. The movie desperately wants these scenes to be symbolic, haunting, cathartic.
Instead, it looks like she’s inspecting a termite problem.
The Horror: Cabinet, Cabinet, Cabinet
There are three types of scares in this movie:
1. Dark corners.
Nothing happens in them. But boy, the camera sure loves them.
2. Cabinet door moves a little.
Sometimes. When it remembers.
3. Loud noise that seems to be added in post-production.
Half the budget went to sudden,”BWAHH!” sounds that are scarier than anything involving the actual plot.
I don’t know what underworld this portal is supposed to lead to, but based on the effects, I’m guessing:
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a storage room,
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a fog machine discount bin, or
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the editing room where this movie was stitched together like a Frankenstein project of unused scenes.
Even when demons appear (or… shapes? flashes? interns in shadow costumes?), they seem confused, like they were summoned to the wrong film. I fully expected one of them to ask for directions to a better project.
Supporting Characters: Because Every Movie Needs People Who Die or Disappear
Rabbi Jacob (Dean Rosen)
Yes. A priest’s haunted cabinet is somehow connected to a rabbi. Why? Who knows. The script doesn’t. He exists mainly to deliver exposition that sounds like Wikipedia copy-pasted into a monologue.
Zachary (Jef Flores)
Cita’s friend, maybe? Or love interest? Or random man who shows up to say things like “be careful” and then vanishes until the plot needs someone else to stare worriedly.
Edwin (Miguel Vasquez)
Exists only to intensify Cita’s stress levels, which were already at max.
Everyone Else
Unclear. They appear, deliver cryptic warnings or ominous looks, then disappear like they escaped into a better script.
The Underworld: Budget Edition
When the movie finally attempts to show us the underworld — the grand supernatural realm connected to the cursed cabinet — the results look like:
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the fog machine broke,
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someone spilled blue light gel on the floor,
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CGI outsourced to a potato.
It’s as if the directors saw Insidious and thought,
“Let’s recreate The Further… but with ₱500 and questionable Wi-Fi.”
Instead of dread, we feel visual disappointment. The underworld scenes are so dim you can’t tell what’s happening, which, to be fair, may be a kindness.
Themes: Trauma, Grief, and IKEA Returns Policy
The movie tries very hard to be “about” something. Trauma. Grief. Emotional baggage. The sins of religious figures. Generational curses. Colonial-era mysticism. The danger of old objects.
But the writing is so unfocused that it feels like someone rearranged meaningful scenes in a blender on the “purée” setting.
And the cabinet metaphor doesn’t land because… we never learn anything meaningful about it. It’s a cabinet. An angry one. That leads to fog.
That’s the whole psychological arc.
The Pacing: Like Molasses Crawling Uphill
There are scenes so slow, so painfully stretched, so utterly devoid of movement or meaning, that I began to suspect the film was trying to hypnotize me.
I swear one shot of the cabinet lasted long enough for me to reconsider my entire life’s direction.
The Climax: Or, The Point Where the Movie Gives Up Completely
Just when things should get exciting — demons! danger! revelations! — the film instead collapses into a series of dimly lit scenes, muttered dialogue, and “just trust us, something supernatural is happening” energy.
Characters scream, objects shake, the soundtrack screams “BE SCARED” — and yet nothing connects. It’s like watching someone else’s nightmare description performed by drama students who misunderstood the assignment.
The ending teases sequel potential.
I beg them not to.
The Final Verdict: Close the Cabinet. Lock It. Lose the Key.
The Gatekeeper (2024) is a supernatural folk-horror film in the same way instant noodles are “cuisine.” Technically true, spiritually misleading.
It tries to be eerie but ends up sleepy.
It tries to be profound but ends up confusing.
It tries to be symbolic but ends up about a woman aggressively threatened by furniture.
There is a good movie concept somewhere in here — but it’s trapped inside the cabinet, banging the door, begging to be let out.
Rating: 2/10
One point for Shanaia Gomez trying her best.
One point for the cabinet, which honestly delivered the most consistent performance.
If you want horror, look elsewhere.
If you want dark laughs, this review provides more than the movie.
