Antlers

Antlers nails the setting and mood, using Oregon as a back drop for this slow moving film about a school teacher (Keri Russell) who begins to investigate one of her students disturbing art. While the acting is strong, and there are some basic elements of horror that work, overall the movie is a lot less than the sum of it's parts.

While the movie sets up a strong base for a creepy story, the film does very little with it. We are treated to cliche soup, including creepy kid with art book, 'powerless' authority figures and even the hints of past tragedy to try to add layers to the characters.

In the end, the film falls back into the same patterns of all mediocre horror films, and putters out without much impact.

This movie takes itself very seriously, and wants you to as well. Unfortunately, other than some good elements of mood and solid acting there isn't much here.

Steeped in dark, grim & brooding atmosphere yet failing to capitalise on it to fully realise its ambitions, Antlers begins on a promising note but it doesn't take long for the film to devolve into a frustrating slog. It tries to be too many things yet doesn't have the discipline or clarity to deliver the desired goods. There is plenty it wants to say yet has no idea how to articulate it right.

Co-written & directed by Scott Cooper (Black Mass), the story does create the right sort of intrigue with its foreboding mystery but the human drama that unfolds is not only bland but also inauthentic. Cooper is unsure of what road to take and plays with several ideas hoping some would somehow stick. The balance between its genre elements is off, and the themes aren't properly handled either.

On the plus side, the creature design, gore effects & moody camerawork is worth a mention but the plot & characters don't have that gripping quality to it that would make us care. Still, the actors do what they can to make the journey worthwhile but it doesn't amount to a lot in the end. The problem lies with the script itself that required more fine-tuning to figure out its identity and what themes to address or discard.

Overall, Antlers strives to be a supernatural horror rooted in indigenous folklore, an allegory about unresolved trauma, drug addiction & child abuse, and also an environmental parable, all at the same time, yet falls remarkably short on nearly all fronts. Its premise had potential but its execution is dry & directionless, thus resulting in a tedious & disappointing genre fare that in an effort to say several things ends up saying nothing at all.

When I saw that this title was available to stream on HBO MAX, I wasted no time in sitting down to watch it. I remember seeing the trailer for it well over a year ago and being genuinely excited. Any new high budget film in the horror sub-genre stirs my curiosity, and especially one like this where hardly any details about the plot or story line were revealed in the trailer.

The initial thing that caught my eye about Antlers was the gorgeous landscape around where it was being shot. A sense of isolation was also present in the remote part of Canada where filming took place. Feeling isolated and alone almost always will make a horror movie scarier to the viewer.

Antlers had more type of feel to it than straight up horror which to me was fine. It was not what I was expecting going into the film, but to be fair, I had done no research beforehand. The horror elements do shine through at times, however. There are no jump scares or anything of that nature. But the violence and gory at times are definitely real and remind you this is no PG fairy-tale you are watching. Fantasy horror is not typically my thing, though if anyone can do it right, it sure is Guillermo Del Toro.

The pacing was my favorite aspect of Antlers. Lulls can be a killer to a horror flick, and this was no issue for this film. If nothing else, you will be entertained for 100 minutes. I gave Antlers a 6/10 overall. The acting by both adult leads, Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons (who is always a shoe-in for a great performance) were solid and probably even above expectations for most movies of this genre. Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), was also surprisingly effective for someone his age. This film further proves that director Scott Cooper will almost make an engaging piece of cinema, and that having Del Toro on your team is never a bad idea.

I just left the theatre after seeing antlers, firstly I will say I enjoyed the film very much. Being my favourite genre, I think it's important to appreciate when a team of talented filmmakers comes together for a foray into horror. That is very much on display here; antlers is a very well made movie, with excellent performances top to bottom, a dreary score, brilliant visuals, and some truly incredible practical effects. It makes most mainstream horror seem extremely tame by comparison as well.

That being said, I was so excited when I first saw the trailer for this movie, and have had so long to hype it up in my own mind, that nothing could have lived up to my expectations by the time it released. I feel this will be the case for many others too.

All said and done, antlers is an excellent movie and a must see for fans of the horror genre, especially creature horror. It delivers on the effects, gore, and scares.

Julia Meadows (Keri Russell) is a recovering alcoholic and school teacher in remote Oregon. She is estranged from her sheriff brother Paul Meadows (Jesse Plemons). One of her students, Lucas Weaver, is getting bullied. She tries to connect with the child who is showing some disturbing signs.

The opening text threw me off and the story is a bit muddled. I do like the dark atmosphere and the overall creepiness. I like the monster designs. The story may have a few too many elements. Some simplifying could be helpful.