‘Antlers’ Movie Review: Dark and Moody Horror Movie Reflects Cycle of Abuse | The Canadian News

The sun don’t shine on Antlers. Not even once.

Nor is the darkness solely metaphorical in this story; following a mysterious local family that falls into very In bad times, the horror movie is an allegory of abuse and how it can be passed down from generation to generation. There is also a part of the story that involves unemployment and poverty, a problem that currently plagues families in the United States, but that is a substantive comment.

To make things even more complex, there is an indigenous component that receives little attention. The mythological spirit of Wendigo, possessing humans with an insatiable appetite, urging them to kill, is ultimately responsible for a succession of corpses piling up in an Oregon town.

There’s a great story here somewhere, but element overload results in a messy, cryptic surface brush of a movie.

What exactly do you mean by that?

Based on the crisp edits and jumps between scenes, it looks like someone brought the scissors to the original cut. The end result is confusing, and in some cases the entire tangents are not addressed at the end of the movie.

The main story follows former Californian school teacher Julia Meadows (Keri Russell) and her brother, the city sheriff, Paul (Jesse Plemons), as they become embroiled in a series of gruesome murders after she shows an interest especially on one of his students, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas). After doing some research, the brothers discover together that a Wendigo has somehow gotten loose in the city, and Lucas is the key to explaining why.

It’s not a bad story in and of itself, but you find yourself thirsty for answers that never come.

OK, I don’t care about the story. Is it scary?

There are several scary scenes. The darkness and shade mentioned above go a long way in improving the mood, as does the small town. (It’s really British Columbia disguised as Oregon.)

The Wendigo itself is scary when you really get a glimpse of it. Guillermo del Toro is a producer of Antlers, and its influence is clear from the start: its typical hideous creature, often adorned with long limbs, a creepy face, and nightmarish, erratic movements, is what you’d expect here. The problem is, as you may have experienced in other Del Toro films, you can’t see it. enough.

But when you do, yeah, it’s a scary thing to behold. There are some particularly twisted events that can make you turn your head or look away.

What does abuse have to do with this?

Julia and Paul frequently refer to the abuse they experienced in their childhood. While there are quick flashbacks, there is never an explicit explanation of what happened to them; we are left to make its history in our own minds. It is clear that the horrors they endured left them scarred for life.

Parallel to that story is the Wendigo mythology. Legend has it that the malevolent spirit leaps from body to body, person to person, and consumes them. It’s a pretty flimsy and simple thread, but the message is clear: unresolved things that are allowed to ooze do just that, and the ramifications of that are passed down from generation to generation.

It’s a real shame he didn’t focus more on indigenous legend, as that’s what makes the story compelling in a horror capacity. Aside from a very welcome cameo from Graham Greene as the local indigenous person with knowledge of such things, we just can’t get enough. It feels like an entire segment is missing.

So what is the end result?

Scattershot and goofy, there’s a great horror movie living somewhere in Antlers. If you’re looking for a simple “scary” movie, you’ll probably enjoy it, but if you’re into meaningful horror, there’s not much to find here. The movie’s mood, acting, and apparent message are great, but at some point it manages to lose its way.

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‘Antlers’ is now showing in theaters in Canada. Check your local listings for more details.