The Keepers
The Keepers is a seven-episode American documentary web series that explores the unsolved murder of nun Catherine Cesnik in 1969. Cesnik taught English and drama at Baltimore's all-girls Archbishop Keough High School, and her former students believe that there was a cover-up by authorities after she suspected that a priest at the high school, A. Joseph Maskell, was guilty of sexually abusing students. The series was directed by Ryan White and released on Netflix in 2017. Reviews. "The Keepers" was met with critical acclaim upon its release. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the  series an approval rating of 97% based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 8.47/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Keepers" draws on riveting, real-life terror to expose long-buried secrets—and tells an inspiring, brilliantly assembled story along the way." Pilot Viruet of "Vice" wrote of the series, "It's harrowing and upsetting, and it will haunt you for a long time, which is part of what makes it necessary viewing." In "Time" magazine, Daniel D'Addario compared "The Keepers" with another Netflix true-crime series, "Making a Murderer", stating that "The Keepers" does not lead  its viewers to a definite conclusion about what happened. "While Sister Cathy Cesnik's death remains a mystery, its aftereffects include both crushing heartbreak and, for the amateur sleuths who seek to crack her case, a sense of making a difference... This isn't just more respectful to the victim than other true-crime stories, with their breathless delight at new clues. It's also more effective." According to Jack Seale in "The Guardian", "Where other true crime hits have followed a linear chronology, "The Keepers" hops between 1969, the 1990s and today, striking a fine balance between narrative structure  – a wow moment at the end of every episode – and respect for a subject that doesn’t need or deserve sensationalism." Church response. The Archdiocese of Baltimore declined when asked by Netflix producers to comment on sexual misconduct allegations within the church. Later, the Archdiocese responded to the series by adding a FAQ page to its website, in which it stated allegations that the archdiocese knew of Maskell's sexual abuse prior to 1992 were false speculation.