In an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother become embroiled with her enigmatic student, whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with an ancestral cr... Read allIn an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother become embroiled with her enigmatic student, whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with an ancestral creature.In an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher and her sheriff brother become embroiled with her enigmatic student, whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with an ancestral creature.
- Awards
- 8 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe narration at the beginning of the film is in the Ojibwe language, still spoken nowadays.
- GoofsThe flag on the uniform that Paul wears is facing the wrong way.Police uniforms have the flag with the stars facing the rear while military personnel have the flag with the stars facing forward.
- Quotes
Lucas Weaver: Once, there were three bears that lived in a dark and wet cave above a small town. Every day, Little Bear went to school, and at night he would come home and eat dinner. But one day, the little bear came home, and Big Bear and Baby Bear were different. Big Bear got sick and his insides turned black. Big Bear has become more angrier and meaner, because they had no food, no meat. But they had each other.
- Crazy creditsThe Searchlight Pictures logo does not have the usual fanfare.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Dead Meat Horror Awards 2022 (2022)
- SoundtracksLeave Oregon
Written and Performed by Tyler Stenson
I am not someone who typically loves creature features or monster movies (whether they are woven with folklore or not), so I was not sure how I would take to this film, despite it appearing to have high promise. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by it. While it does veer into full-fledged creature horror in the last act, it also has a number of other interesting things happening in it--there is a subtext of drug addiction and child abuse at the core of the story, with the Native American Wendigo tale functioning as a means of exploring this theme. It is a unique idea, though the theme does feel as though it is somewhat half-baked, almost as though the screenwriters were unsure of how to thread it all the way through. A glaring example of this is the shared history of abuse between Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons' characters, siblings whose father was obliquely abusive--there are numerous references to this, and the abuse seems to weigh heavy on them, but the history is never fully fleshed out.
Where the film is far better-realized is in its cinematography and atmosphere, which is dense, mossy, and almost rotten-feeling. Its bleak visuals match its themes, and the Pacific Northwest setting is dreary and effective. Solid performances from the entire cast also help boost the film, with Russell and Plemons giving outstanding performances, as well as Rory Cochrane, Graham Green, and Amy Madigan providing equally fantastic supporting performances. Furthermore, the special effects are high-caliber and effective, without veering into absurd CGI territory--the creature appears truly menacing, and the violence disturbing.
Overall, "Antlers" is a solid, well-acted, and well-shot film, and certainly one of the best horror films of 2021. While its themes do feel underdeveloped at times, they still remain profound, and the film is characterized by a bleak, dense atmosphere that is hard to shake off. 8/10.
- drownsoda90
- Jan 9, 2022
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Gạc
- Filming locations
- Hope, British Columbia, Canada(Cispus Falls Oregon)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,619,670
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,271,346
- Oct 31, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $18,867,659
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1