Antlers

“The myth of the dreaded “wendigo” comes to shocking life in this terrifying horror thriller. When a small-town Oregon teacher (Keri Russell) and her brother (Jesse Plemons), the local sheriff, seek to help a troubled young boy who possesses a strange secret, the consequences are more dreadful than they could have possibly imagined.”

Directed by Scott Cooper and Produced by Guillermo del Toro, among others, Antlers explores the myth of the wendigo, a creature or evil spirit that possesses humans, driving them to cannibalism and murder. With human characteristics along with giant antlers, this creature is terrifyingly portrayed in this film while it explores deeper themes of abuse.

Keri Russell plays Julia Meadows, a teacher who has come back to her home town to be with her brother, after leaving at a young age due to horrific abuse from their mentally unstable father. Noticing that one of her students, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), is closed off from the rest of the class, exhibiting tell-tale signs of abuse himself, Julia begins to investigate. Strange, graphic drawings depicting frightening images drive Julia to inquire about Lucas’ home life; a little brother no longer coming to school and a father who operates meth labs in some of the abandoned mines in the area. Julia soon learns the frightening truth that Lucas is so desperate to hide, as her brother Paul investigates mysterious and brutal deaths around the small town.

From the very beginning of the film, we’re subjected to strange and horrendous things we don’t get immediate answers to. The story jumps around slightly, so it can be a bit confusing unless you’re paying close attention to a lot of the details, as the opening of the film presumably takes place a few weeks, at least, until we meet Julia. While this can be a little hard to follow at times, the story generally does a good job at allowing the story to unfold naturally, giving us glimpses of what Lucas has locked in his house, the evolution of the Wendigo, as well as the lore and myths behind it. Antlers is first and foremost a horror film, but the themes it touches on about abuse is juxtaposed perfectly in this story. Julia fled home at a young age because of the abuse she endured by her father. While we don’t know if it was physical, sexual, or both, she’s had to live with the consequences of leaving her little brother to grow up with him with no way out. This has caused a rift between the two that she wants to repair, but doesn’t know how to go about it. With Lucas, Julia sees the similarities between them. While Julia left her little brother to a monster, ultimately, Lucas didn’t, and that theme resonates throughout the entire film.

Scott Cooper has a short filmography, but a very distinguished one. His first film, Crazy Heart, is one of my favorites, and he goes on to do Out of the Furnace, and Hostiles. His foray into the horror genre, in my opinion, is extremely successful. Although most of these elements in the film belong in the horror genre, the themes he explores are still very much human, it just happens to follow a narrative that ends up being a bit bloodier and more horrific than his others. Cooper’s direction elevates the film above a simple monster gorefest. He has real, human characters that would be interesting and compelling with or without a Wendigo. In Cooper’s films, he has a direct line to some of the most poverty-stricken yet hardworking characters and impoverished locations, he definitely adds quite a bit to what might otherwise be an underwhelming film. Credit has to also be given to the actors, Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons are fantastic in this, but the real impressive performance comes from the kid, Jeremy T. Thomas. He has the weight of his entire world square on his shoulders and how he keeps everything together for as long as he does is very impressive, and he plays his character very well.

We were given a digital copy of this film for review, with the physical release due out on 1/4/2022. The disc is sure to have extras, with superior video and audio, something that cannot be accurately reviewed based on internet connections. Antlers suffered a long delay in release thanks to the acquisition of Fox by Disney, but the fact that this is finally being released and not shelved indefinitely is a good sign for some of the more adult genres and properties that Disney now owns the rights to. This is available now to stream, but my recommendation is always to pick up the physical copy. Antlers is a great horror film that any fan of the genre, or of Scott Cooper, will be sure to enjoy!