‘Antlers’ is good but really depressing
“Antlers,” in theaters Friday, is a horror movie that is not for the faint of heart.
And that’s not even in reference to the blood and gore, of which there are copious amounts. Like, buckets, and some really sickening shots.
But the scariest part of the film, directed by Scott Cooper and produced by Guillermo del Toro, is the staggering depression visited upon the miserable little Oregon town in which the film is set. The opioid crisis, the specter of abuse, poverty, destruction of native land and the resultant broken lives in the wake of all this add up to a pretty horrifying existence.
Oh, there are monsters, too.
This is the point where you often read something like, “If it sounds depressing, actually. …”
No. In this case it is depressing. There is not so much as a smile cracked in the movie. Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons and child actor Jeremy T. Thomas all give powerful performances.
But it’s tough stuff.
A monster isn’t the only horror visited upon the town in the movie
Russell plays Julia Meadows, a school teacher who fled an abusive father, moved to California but is now back. She has moved back into the childhood home still occupied by her brother, Paul (Plemons), the town sheriff.
The town has been devastated by closure of the mines, but one is going to open back up. That’s where the film begins. A couple of industrious sorts are using the depths of the mine to cook meth.
One of those men is Frank Weaver (Scott Haze). A real family man, he’s brought his youngest son Aiden (Sawyer Jones) along, but at least tells him to wait in the truck.
But some bad things happen in the mine, to all of them, setting the story in motion.
Julia teaches Lucas Weaver (Thomas), the older brother. He’s small, picked on, obviously suffering. And now he seems to be suffering more.
He is. When he goes home Lucas has to take care of some grisly business.
He’s teaching himself how to trap animals, and he’s gotten good at dressing dead animals.
That’s not the grisly part.
Julia recognizes the signs of abuse in Lucas. When she sorts through his desk she finds horrific drawings he’s made, of vicious creatures making a bloody mess. When he shares a story in class, it’s harrowing and disturbing.
He’s somewhat open to Juila’s concern, though he’s guarded. When the school principal (Amy Madigan) pays a home visit, things go awry.
Soon animals and then people are being found in the woods, torn apart, to the extent that the medical examiner doesn’t even know where to start in determining cause of death. And what is that skin found in the attic of Lucas’ house?
Russell and Plemons are both good, but there’s no fun to be found here
Warren Stokes (Graham Greene), the former sheriff, thinks he knows. It’s the native legend of the Wendigo, an insatiable evil spirit that inhabits bodies of humans and … changes. This is a hard sell for the straight-ahead thinking Paul. But the bodies are stacking up.
Cooper’s direction is assured – and he and cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister certainly create a convincingly depressing setting. Cooper lets the audience sort things out for the most part. For instance, we never hear that Julia is an alcoholic. She just stares longingly at liquor bottles at the store, never quite pulling the trigger.
Nor are the exact circumstances of her leaving made crystal clear, though we see enough in snippets of flashbacks to know that it was bad. Russell’s performance is really good, but also really downbeat.
It’s hard to imagine a more naturalistic actor than Plemons. He just seems like a guy standing there – which, in fairness, for a lot of the movie he is. He’s a man of few words in this story, and the ones he chooses to use with Julia are usually the wrong ones.
There are some genuine scares, some gross-out moments and some heartfelt scenes between Julia and Lucas. The atmosphere is so thick you can touch it. This is a good movie and an interesting concept.
But it’s not any fun at all.