Despite a few predictable beats, "What Keeps You Alive" offers plenty of effective jolts, helped along by the chemistry between leads Anderson and Allen.

That being said, the victory of What Keeps You Alive is not its heart-thumping (and a little too long) second act, but the question of survival versus vengeance the film raises.

Nonetheless, it's an entertaining and well-crafted effort from a resourceful indie team who've scored enough respectable base hits to date that one might reasonably expect them to deliver a home-run any time now.

Minihan’s tale is a moody, memorable work of art that dares its audience to meditate on the layers and anxieties of love and deceit.