"Antlers" is a 2021 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Cooper. It's based on the book, "The Quiet Boy," by Nick Antosca which I have not read but I've heard it's even better than the film adaptation. The movie caught my attention initially because it was produced by Guillermo Del Toro and he is my favorite director by far so I had to see what kind of monster he had created this time.
So a quick plot overview: An impoverished young boy catches the attention of his school teacher who just wants to help him - completely unaware of just how serious the plight of the child is in regards to the monster locked in his attic.
Overall I really enjoyed the film. It was brutal and sad, but not so much so that it wasn't enjoyable as entertainment. The heavy subject matters were handled well and the whole film is very emotionally charged. With Del Toro involved, you KNOW the monster design is going to be A++ and this creature was no exception. The acting was also very good across the board, especially from the little boy protagonist.
I definitely recommend the film if you haven't seen it yet and are in the mood for something bloody and dramatic.
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SPOILER
WARNING
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The acting was pretty solid across the board but Jeremy T Thomas, Keri Russel, and Scott Haze definitely shine the most. I love when kids are actually cast properly - whether on-screen or in regards to voice acting - instead of having adults trying to sound like kids or just straight-up NOT KIDS playing kids. It's weird. I noticed it a lot with the TV shows about high schoolers that I would watch when I was in high school. Pretty sure all the cast members were in their early 20s. It definitely made me feel weird about my appearance, seeing as I looked nothing like those "high schoolers" that were actually adults, no wonder. Haha
Jeremy was so solid as Lucas. He had to be, he was basically the lens through which we view the whole film. He was so ragged and small and malnourished and he tugged at my heart strings like he was starting a lawn mower. I always see Keri in the more serious roles. She's never the frivolous, free-spirited woman for all I can recall of her acting career. But even she was softer around Lucas because she just wanted to help.
The progression of Lucas' Dad turning into a wendigo was very well done. The way he tried to prepare the kids some defenses before his mind was completely gone. The way he gave them desperate directions to not open doors even if he asked them to, so sad for a loving father to have to do. The practical effects and prosthetics for his "costume" of his hideous, sickened body were very realistic and appropriately disgusting. I loved the strange fiery light that would show through his ribs as an indication that he was definitely cursed and that it was getting worse.
BEST PART - definitely the monster design. Of course it's my favorite part. Del Toro helped make it.
Just incredible. The way the Dad stayed "human" until he ate the Principal from the school who came to check on Lucas and assess his homelife. He stayed "human" until he finally consumed human flesh, which is the central point to how one becomes a Wendigo - at least in the traditional folktales. I'm no expert but the concept of a wendigo being more like an antlered deer monster is more of a Western development.
The original folktales of the Algonquin First Nations people in North America many years ago don't mention antlers at all, or anything particularly monstrous, really. The traditional wendigo is just a severely malnourished, emaciated human being with a ravenous hunger for human flesh, a hunger that can never be sated no matter how much it eats. It's a punishment for the cannibal. This antlered deer creature depicted here still fits as a punishment, still an insatiably hungry beast that will never find peace, but it isn't exactly true to form if you really look back at the origin.
Also a bit of a weird point for me, I don't think there's supposed to be any way aside from being a cannibal that can turn a human into a wendigo. This film had something where you could be like... bitten by another wendigo?? Or you could literally just - take in its essence or something and be cursed that way, even though you did nothing wrong. Lucas' Dad got it by being attacked. The Wiki says the little brother was infected at the location the Dad did too but I don't remember seeing that at all??? And then the Sheriff got clawed by the wendigo so I guess that was his exposure. None of them except the Dad ate human flesh so that's... weird.
Some moviegoers were certainly disgruntled about the changes to the monster. I read that it originally wasn't a wendigo at all in the book, so the fact that it was a different monster and ALSO not even the best version of said monster really ruffled some feathers. And that's fair. Folklore of any sort deserves to be treated with honor and respect. If an Algonquin native wants to point out that this is NOT a true wendigo, they would have every right to do so. Honestly the creature could have been a separate monster all together and it wouldn't have made a difference to me.
I'm generally a stickler for respecting the source material if possible, so I can see how this would have disappointed some people in a couple different ways.
But if I'm just looking at this as a monster design and not taking how it should look into account, I will reiterate that I adore it. I loved how the Dad's original face skin hung grotesquely over the wendigo's forehead like a horrible mask until it eventually pulled it off and cast it aside along with any remaining shreds of his humanity. I loved how it could leap great distances and flip a truck over. I loved the horrible sounds it made and how you don't get a good look at it until the final confrontation. That's movie monsters done right.
Absolutely fantastic.
So here comes the ending. The wendigo Dad faces off against Lucas and his Teacher and they manage to kill him once and for all. But then the horrible essence drifts through the air and enters the little brother, immediately starting to glow like fire inside his little chest. And Lucas has to look away as his teacher kills his little brother as well, to stop the curse.
Some time passes, maybe a few months. The teacher seems to kind of adopt Lucas, who is finally looking healthier and happier. But then, unbeknownst to her, her Sheriff brother coughs up some black goo, one of the first tell tale signs of the transformation. A very dramatic and unresolved ending, certainly not a strange choice given how horror movies often go. It certainly didn't ruin the film for me or anything like that.
Really, I'm asking myself why I'm giving this one a 9/10. It's so close to being a 10/10 but I had a couple things I didn't like.
The main one, honestly, is probably that I was sad the little brother had to die as well. It was just such an extra touch of cruelty at the end of an already sad story. I would call it a smidge over the top. The Wiki says he got infected with his Dad in the attack at the start of the film, but I don't remember that at all. I thought that the horrible essence released upon the father's death just happened to go into him, because he was small and weak. I thought it was just cruel coincidence.
I also thought it was cruel coincidence that the Sheriff Brother got infected too, but now that I'm writing this review, I see that he could've easily gotten bit in the scuffle with the Dad wendigo and that could have been enough. Maybe the little brother DID get bit at the beginning and they just didn't show us, but he was already "primed" for the wendigo curse to waft over to him. I dunno.
9/10 because killing the little brother at the end was just REALLY mean and the "wendigo" had a few aspects that made it NOT a wendigo, exactly. Also the pacing was a bit strange. It was hard to balance poor Lucas' day-to-day struggles with all of the supernatural carnage that was happening at his house. Sometimes switching back and forth between the two "moods" was rather jarring. The film wasn't structured in the most effective way for a smooth plot transition.
Perhaps this sounds like I'm reaching for things not to like about it. And maybe I am. But a 9/10 somehow feels appropriate in my heart of hearts so I'm sticking to it.
Thanks for reading~
More reviews to come
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