Directed by Scott Cooper and produced by Guillermo del Toro, Antlers follows Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), a school teacher in a small town in Oregon, and her brother, Paul (Jesse Plemons), the local sheriff, as they become concerned about one of her students, a young boy named Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas) who is secretly keeping a supernatural creature inside his house. And the creature, revealed to be a malevolent being with ravenous hunger, is about to be unleashed.
Ever since I saw the first trailer for this film and the names that were attached I was instantly eager to see it. But just like many other films it was delayed consistently, almost to the point where it was going to be shelved forever. Thankfully it was finally released just in time for Halloween, but was it worth the long wait? I believe it was.
This was an effective modern creature feature with great performances, gripping atmosphere, and a terrifying monster guaranteed to give you nightmares. Creature features have always been largely hit or miss for me, mainly because most of them focus purely on the creature and don’t bother giving effort to anything else including human characters. Thankfully with such talented filmmakers at the helm of this film we are given good characters with great performances as well as a good story that delivers on its horror.
The cast is small for this film but you are invested in all of the main characters for different reasons. Keri Russell perfectly portrays Julia who is haunted by a dark past that ends up tying in with certain events in the film, including the supernatural elements. Even before being told the grim details of what she has endured we understand straight away what she has been through in simple scenes without the need for exposition. She is fighting her own inner demons as she tries to help Lucas and reconnect with her brother.
Jesse Plemons really shows just how underrated of an actor he is, delivering a great performance as Paul who has also endured a lot in his past, though he deals with it in his own way while also dealing with the mounting pressure of all the horrifying events in his town.
But easily the best performance was Jeremy Thomas as Lucas. Child actors can be hit or miss, especially when it comes to horror, but Jeremy Thomas nailed this role of a truly disturbed child who is forced into caring for a monstrous being. He makes you feel very unsettled from his first appearance, and despite everything he’s been through he is still a kid at heart, which you get to see come to the surface from time to time. He has a personal connection to the creature that makes him want to keep it fed and hidden from others.
The creature itself, which is a Wendigo, is a truly nightmarish being of different forms, including one main form that is smartly not revealed until later on and is built up perfectly. It is a brutal and primal beast that has simple motives, an amazing design (most likely due to Guillermo del Toro), and delivers vicious kills. It honestly might be my favorite take of the Wendigo in film.
The film as I mentioned is an effective creature feature but I was honestly surprised by how short it was. Clocking in at 1 hour and 40 minutes, it makes for one of the shortest theatrical horrors I’ve seen, but even in a short run time the filmmakers were able to accomplish all they needed to do with the story. The pacing was good, but I definitely wanted a little bit more from this film in certain places.
The filmmakers also do an excellent job with the technical elements, featuring strong cinematography that sets up the horror atmosphere perfectly, and bone-chilling sounds (like the cries of the creature) to absorb viewers and really creep people out. Combined with great creature effects and an eerie score, all the elements definitely enhance the horror aspect, making this creature feature truly stand out.
Antlers is a short yet effective horror that is definitely worth everyone’s time and should be given support, especially after how long it’s been waiting to be seen. And hopefully, this film can inspire others to do better creature features using lesser-known monsters like the Wendigo. I’m going to give Antlers a B+.
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