“What is storytelling?” Graham Greene’s character, Warren, asks in the middle of the movie Antlers.
My answer: This movie!
Antlers is based on storytelling. A movie that does not solely rely on gore, jump scares, or monster horror in order to be effective. I'm not saying that those elements are not aspects of Antlers, because that is indeed part of the movie. The overall result is the telling of a mythical story at its core , with heartfelt characters that have deep stories to tell of their own.
Antlers takes place in Cispus Falls, a small town in Central Oregon, which provides us with an extremely atmospheric, moody woodsy setting. The story revolves around the town that is suddenly thrust into dealing with an inhuman creature of a fantastical nature. But really, it’s about two families embedded within the story.
The Weavers, a father and his two sons, live in a dilapidated home with subpar living standards. The kids are malnourished, and the father runs a meth lab out of an abandoned creepy old mine. It is within the mine that Frank Weaver, and his meth-making cohort, are viciously attacked by a creature unseen to us. Frank and his youngest son, Aiden, make it home after this encounter only to discover that Frank has brought an illness home with him, which worsens and spreads to Aiden.
The oldest son, Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas), is forced into caring for his sick and struggling father and brother. All while attending middle school and putting on a façade that everything is as normal as can be. We find that he is having to feed his ailing family members with the fresh flesh of recently killed animals. Things get worse for Lucas as his teacher and school principle begin to suspect child abuse and neglect. As they start to inquire into Lucas’s home life, Lucas tries tries to keep his secret hidden.
Speaking of Lucas’s teacher, Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), she becomes very interested in Lucas’s well-being. Which could end up being her undoing as the secret Lucas tries to hold onto so dearly becomes too powerful and escapes from the Weaver house. Afterwards, the dead bodies begin to add up.
I mentioned Antlers is about two families. One being the Weavers, the other being the Meadows sister and brother, which includes Julia Meadows and Paul Meadows (Jesse Plemons).
Julia has a history of her own. A darkness that has kept her far far away from the Oregon town in which she was born and raised. Her brother Paul, however, has lived his entire life in Cispus Falls and is the local Sheriff.
After the passing of their father, Julia moves in with Paul and takes the teacher’s role at the very Middle School to which Lucas Weaver attends. This is where her attention is drawn to his unhealthy demeanor and odd behavior. She then finds his disturbing bloody violent drawings in his desk cubby.
As the story slowly intensifies and darkens, Julia and Lucas’s paths converge together as Julia tries to help the obviously tormented child. Julia’s own experience of child abuse plays a large role into why she becomes defiantly attached to Lucas. And, when they are confronted with the evil unleashed in Antlers, they truly just have each other to lean on to fight for their lives.
My Bloody raw thoughts:
We waited a VERY long time for a movie that had already been highly anticipated. I feel like Antlers would’ve been better received if it had been released when originally planned. The longer the release lingered the more the expectations rose for Antlers's to be a blow-your-socks-off horror. The anticipation may have undermined the movie's success.
Also, I felt that the climax was a little abrupt as Julia and Lucas face off against the beast in the end. And then that is immediately followed by a depressive scene. That which plays into the overall ominous nature of the movie.
All that said, I really liked the way Antlers presents itself. I like the dreary atmosphere and unrelenting dread that is portrayed throughout the entire movie. There are a few gut-wrenching gory sections and parts that really make your skin crawl. Young Jeremy T. Thomas does a great job in this movie as a kid trying to keep his family safe from people that would tear them apart if they discovered the mess in which they found themselves.
The creature itself I thought was alright. Not the most amazing, but it was creative and intriguing to the mythical story from which it came. The eerie sounds it made added an additional creep factor in itself. I found myself thinking of the creature from The Ritual, but there are still plenty of differences in the end.
When you have Guillermo Del Toro involved with a horror movie, there’s a lot of excitement that surrounds it. And a lot of success. He Produced Antlers, and I could see some of his influence within.
I highly recommend Antlers to anyone interested in a great story with depth, darkness, and a solid cast, as well as a formidable deadly creature.
Hope you enjoy it as I did!
Antlers
Released: 10/29/2021
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Drama, Mystery
Running Time: 1 hours 39 minute
Director: Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Hostiles, Out of the Furnace)
Writers: Henry Chaisson (screenplay by), Nick Antosca (screenplay by), Scott Cooper (screenplay by)
Stars:
Keri Russell as Julia Meadows (Dark Skies, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Jesse Plemons as Paul Meadows (Jungle Cruise, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Game Night)
Jeremy T. Thomas as Lucas Weaver (Paradise Lost 2020)
Graham Greene as Warren Stokes (Dances with Wolves, The Green Mile, Maverick)
IMDB Rating: 6.0 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 68%
Metascore: 57 out of 100
Streamable on these Apps with subscription at time of Blog Post: N/A
Rentable on these Apps at time of Blog Post: Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube TV, Vudu
Antlers Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng5eyOfL8qM&t=3s
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