ANTLERS (2021)
Updated: Dec 11, 2022
Scott Cooper and Guillermo Del Toro Deliver an Old-Fashioned Yet Atmospheric Monster Movie
Grade: B-
**Spoiler Alert!!**
The basic story for Antlers, Guillermo Del Toro's latest production, is not exactly original: a monstrous and largely unseen creature preys upon an isolated American town. This idea has been seen many times before, most notably in 1975's Jaws (which, come to think of it, has a surprisingly similar title) and even as recently as Super 8 (2011) and Netflix's Stranger Things (2016-Present). But Antlers has a number of qualities that elevate it ever so slightly beyond being a simple monster movie. It addresses some important issues, is deeply atmospheric thanks to the cinematography, and features some great and well-timed shocks.
The film takes place in a small coastal Oregon town and follows three people. The first is Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas), a young boy who seemingly lives alone three weeks after his father encountered something in the local mines. Lucas is quiet at school and bullied by several classmates, but he appears to be hiding something terrible in his home. The second is Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), Lucas's teacher still nursing childhood wounds who comes to empathize with the boy, thinking he is suffering from the same things she went through. The third is Paul (Jesse Plemons), Julia's police officer brother who is investigating a mysterious and brutal murder in the woods outside the town. When evidence starts to mount of something supernatural, Paul is unconvinced...until he comes face to face with it.
Family issues and secrets lie at the heart of Antlers. The boy and teacher were both traumatized by their respective fathers, and Julia feels compelled to help Lucas in the hope of saving him from the same abuse she suffered. Keri Russell does a great job of conveying her character's misery; from the moment we first see her, we can tell that something is troubling her. Jeremy T. Thomas is also good in his role, wearing a constant blank expression that conceals a terrible secret he will soon no longer be able to keep.
As previously mentioned, the movie is very atmospheric. Cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister showcases a town underneath a constantly overcast sky and houses shrouded in fog reflecting the lights from police cars. Everything is doused in an oppressively gray aesthetic that magnifies the film's sense of dread and foreboding. And the payoffs, for the most part, are worth the atmosphere. Even when we are expecting the monster attacks, they are sudden, horrifying and brutal. One of the best comes when a police officer sees a small boy in a wood shed and the creature appears behind him, breaking the silence to pieces with jarring suddenness. The monster itself is quite scary in its early half-glimpsed appearances, sporting a gigantic pair of antlers it uses on its prey.
Despite these virtues, the movie suffers from both a familiar story and a somewhat underwhelming climax. After Lucas is kidnapped by the creature, the film follows a predictable formula of the main character tracking the beast to its lair and fighting it, and the fight itself is quite easy. The monster, when seen in full, still looks frightening but turns out to not be very skilled in hand-to-hand combat. There is also a spooky hook in the movie's final scene that tries to set up a sequel, but that is pretty much standard in horror movies.
Antlers is not the best monster movie ever, but it is very well-made. The actors are good, the atmosphere is haunting, the underlying issues are compelling, and the monster attacks are shocking. It only really suffers from the climax, which is both predictable and short. In spite of this, people who just want to see a dark, creepy and violent monster flick will definitely get their money's worth.
Director: Scott Cooper
Screenplay: C. Henry Chaisson, Nick Antosca, Scott Cooper (Based on the story "The Quiet Boy" by Nick Antosca)
Producers: Guillermo Del Toro, David S. Goyer, J. Miles Dale
Cast: Keri Russell (Julia Meadows), Jesse Plemons (Paul Meadows), Jeremy T. Thomas (Lucas Weaver), Graham Greene (Warren Stokes), Scott Haze (Frank Weaver), Rory Cochrane (Dan Lecroy), Amy Madigan (Principal Booth)
Rated: R (for violence including gruesome images, and for language)
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