This comes from the genre “Stuff someone heard about in passing while on vacation then made a movie about what they remembered”. Other entries include The Forest, about the suicide forest in Japan and The Ruins about ruins in Mexico. I don’t know if Antlers is based on any kind of real Native American folklore, but it sure sounds like someone took the basics of a story and made it into horror. I’m really not against this idea. Some good movies come out of it. Antlers is more of an OK movie.
I like that it gives Keri Russell a leading role. It remains strange to me that she isn’t a couple rungs higher on the fame list. It’s a Guillermo del Toro-produced, Scott Cooper-directed movie, and it looks exactly like a movie produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Scott Cooper. It has del Toro’s creature fascination and Cooper’s eye for the less glamorous side of things. Antlers is set in a soggy, rundown part of Oregon. It does trend a little more toward gawking than exploring in how it looks at the community. The creature visuals are pretty cool. In a 99-minute package, this was harmless enough that I enjoyed it.
I do wish it would’ve picked a lane when it came to the commentary and allegory. There’s a lot about generational trauma, poverty, and Native American culture. The movie is at its best when it’s being a horror movie, but often, it felt like it would rather be a supernatural drama. Given the choice though, I’d rather them keep it relatively short and short-change a few topics than drag for over 2 hours to cover everything sufficiently.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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