In an interview with Inverse to promote his 2021 horror film Antlers, director Scott Cooper said, “I tend never to make the same film in the same genre. The great danger as a filmmaker is in doing safe work. I always like to be in an uncomfortable space.” While admirable, if you can do something really well, there is also the argument to stay within that genre as you continue to perfect your craft. Antlers is the fifth film directed by Cooper and the first one that dips outside the norms of reality. Three of his first four (Out of the Furnace, Crazy Heart, Hostiles) finished in my End of Year Top 3, while his fourth (Black Mass) was a movie I did not enjoy. Antlers was far better than Black Mass, but it is not a candidate to finish in my Top 10 Movies of 2021.

Co-produced by Guillermo del Toro, who, perhaps, is this century’s master in connecting fairytales and horror, Antlers sets the tone early of a modern-day creep-fest rooted with deep ties to Indigenous lore. There were some fantastic ideas with this film, but it never came close to fruition. Our lead is Julie (Keri Russell – FX’s The Americans, WB’s Felicity), a middle school who has returned to her rural Oregon childhood home to reunite with her brother, Paul (Jesse Plemmons – I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Other People), the town’s sheriff. Julie left her younger brother to an abusive father years ago. Her return coincides with the somewhat recent passing of their father. However, this is told vaguely and serves hardly a purpose other than paralleling our lead story and showing that Julie can relate to the movie’s protagonist.

In their desolate, deindustrialized town, a certain sluggishness suggests that the town is just waiting to rot away completely. I don’t believe we see any of our moody characters offer a hint of a smile throughout the movie. Deliberately bleak, our story revolves around a young, middle-aged student named Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas). In the film’s first scene, we see his father, Frank (Scott Haze – Thank You For Your Service, Only the Brave), go into a local mine that is fronting as a meth lab. In the mine, Frank finds ceiling-hung items to ward off evil spirits. Unfortunately, a snarling noise captures their attention, and soon, Frank and his partner are attacked by an unseen creature. We don’t see Frank’s partner again.

What attacked them was a wendigo, a malevolent mythical presence with deep roots in Native American legend that emerges at particular times, intent on taking vengeance on humankind’s damage to the earth. Not to belabor the point too much, but this spirit is a central character in our story. The fabled beast is a significant part of Algonquian-speaking peoples and is passed down through generations. It can possess human beings and take on their form, taking on animalistic behaviors. The human-like wendigo becomes cannibalistic and constantly looks to feast on humans, though it is never satisfied. The flesh-eating beast represents humans’ excessive consumption, which is why the cannibalistic traits appear and why the creature’s hunger never satiates. Its appearance conveys an imbalance in nature, greed, land destruction, and the natural state. So we’ve got some rich imagery in Antlers with our backdrop of our middle school teacher, her sheriff brother, and her disturbed student. This movie is not for everyone. It’s weird, and some will find it very disturbing.

My problem with the movie was not the mythical, bizarre component. The supernatural stuff was fine, though it’s not my usual cup of tea. While it was severely flawed, I was okay with that part, as it made the movie intriguing and tense. However, it was the day-to-day life normalcy that needed to be clarified. A new teacher isn’t just going to follow her middle-grade student and buy him a cup of ice cream at a local parlor. Nor is a 12-year-old going to attend school and walk through town for months without townsfolk becoming curious. As a former teacher, yes, sometimes it could be cool to be a detective. Still, we aren’t going to break into one of our student’s homes, announced because we have a suspicion that there is something strange going on with his father because of some scary drawings he has in his sketchbook. Also, Lucas has a younger brother who hasn’t been seen in public in a while, which doesn’t cause suspicion. Like, “Oh, I see Lucas has been coming to school, but Aiden hasn’t reported for first grade all year.” It doesn’t add up, and it insults our intelligence that this is never brought into the fold. Without giving too much away, I’m unsure if there’s a need for the younger brother. They could have handled the premise without needing that character. If you can overlook the continuity errors of the film and allow yourself to become immersed in the bizarre and what Cooper is trying to say, you’ll enjoy yourself.

Antlers was alright. It could have been better, and while it had a tone that I generally enjoy, it got a little too bizarre and simplistic. You’ll want to see Antlers if you’re a huge movie buff, like supernatural horror, or enjoy darker films. For most others, it’s something you’ll find less enjoyable. Even if you are a fan of Russell or Plemmons, I still wouldn’t recommend it. They are both miscast in this film. Like similar movies in this genre, Antlers would have worked better with lesser-known actors.

Plot 7/10
Character Development 6/10
Character Chemistry 6/10
Acting 6/10
Screenplay 6.5/10
Directing 6.5/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 7/10
Universal Relevance 7/10
71%

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