Antlers

 

Antlers

2021

Director- Scott Cooper

Cast- Keri Russell, Jeremy T. Thomas, Jesse Plemons, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Amy Madigan, Rory Cochrane, Sawyer Jones

            This modern day folk horror centers on the Wendigo, a malevolent entity from the mythology of the native peoples of North America. If you are unfamiliar with the Wendigo, its folklore usually involves cannibalism; it drives people to eat the flesh of others or people become the Wendigo after eating the flesh of others.

            This story takes place in a dying Oregon town where drug addiction and poverty are slowly eating it away. The film begins with a meth manufacturer being attacked by a monster in in his meth lab housed in an abandoned coal mine. His 12 year old son, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas,) finds his father and takes him home. His father begins to change and Lucas is burdened with keeping this secret while finding ways to satisfy his degenerating father’s hunger for meat.

            But this secret can’t stay hidden for long. Lucas’ teacher (Keri Russell) can tell that something is wrong with Lucas and starts nosing around in Lucas’ life. Meanwhile, people are disappearing around town and later their bodies are found mangled and partially devoured. The only person who seems to know what’s happening is the town’s old retired sheriff (played by Graham Greene). He is familiar with the lore of the Wendigo, but of course no one takes him seriously.

            Antlers is a pretty serious film. It doesn’t have any of the humor or light hearted moments that horror films often use to give breaks in the tension. It starts off grim and ends that way. The sky is always grey, the ground is wet and the leaves are falling off of the trees.

 

Addiction figures prominently in the story. The film doesn’t hit you over the head with it, but it pops up all through the film in the background; Lucas’ dad making meth, references to people getting narcaned, radio broadcasts about opiate addiction, people standing in line at a methadone clinic, an alcoholic staring longingly at a wall of bottles. Graham Greene’s description of the Wendigo even sounds rather like addiction when he says that the more it eats, the hungrier it gets. Lucas’ denial about his father’s condition and his attempts to hide it from others seem very much like the classic codependent in an addicted family. Along with this, poverty, child abuse and neglect also figure prominently into the background of the story. With all of these depressing themes, the monster and the gory murders almost seem like a relief from the grim tone of the film.

The film was shot in late 2018 with an early 2020 release planned. But like everything else in the world, its release kept getting pushed back by Covid-19. It has finally arrived just in time for Halloween weekend, 2021. I think this was probably for the best anyway. The film’s grey skies and leaf covered grounds feel right for a dreary Fall day.

Don’t watch this if you’re looking for a light hearted distraction while munching on some snacks. On the other hand, if you’re in the mood for some folk horror that sticks with you after the film is over, Antlers is worth your time.