'Antlers' Review: The Brooding Horror Film Gives The Mythological Flesheater Of The Forest It's Due With Grisly Effects, A First-Rate Ca ...

Arlington TX

01 November, 2021

12:53 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report October 31, 2021 Carrying Guillermo del Toro's stamp of approval, Scott Cooper's foray into horror is nothing new for a director who is focused on the evil that men do. The western "Hostiles," organized crime drama "Black Mass," and backwoods thriller "Out of the Furnace" are all prime examples of the genre known for depicting terrifying events. "Antlers" carries Cooper's character-driven signature while incorporating Native American folklore to demonstrate once again how men can turn into monsters, albeit in the literal sense this time around. You can't spell demonstrate without "demon" something to keep in mind as "Antlers" illustrates how humans can be just as frightening as any flesh-eating evil spirit. The film's undercurrent of abuse remains prominent as the narrative's three protagonists are all survivors of maltreatment, physical and sexual. The added extra layer of horror keeps "Antlers" grounded in reality as the film based on Nick Antosca's short story "The Quiet Boy" explores the Wendigo myth using a rural Oregon backdrop as the setting. Kerri Russell, star of FX's "The Americans" series, plays elementary school teacher Julia Meadows who just relocated from California back to her small hometown in Oregon, a poverty-stricken community living in the shadows of its former coal mine glory days. Riddled with guilt for abandoning her younger brother Paul (Jesse Plemons) to escape their now-deceased father's abuse — which in Julia's case turned sexual — she's moved back into the home which holds so many dark reminders of the past, living once again with her brother who has now become the Sheriff of the small town. Not an easy job as fighting crime has been replaced by serving eviction notices. Plemons, a Dallas native, has become one of the best character actors working today after appearing in films that include "Judas and the Black Messiah" where he played FBI agent Roy Mitchell, boyfriend Jake in Charlie Kaufman's disconcerting "I'm Thinking of Ending Things", and Jimmy Hoffa's foster son Chuckie in Scorsese's "The Irishman." His appearance in "Antlers" marks the third collaboration between the actor and Cooper after appearing in "Black Mass" and "Hostiles." To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.