Antlers (2021) Review

 "He'll come for me."
-Lucas Weaver


Julia Meadows (Keri Russell), a teacher in small-town Oregon, becomes concerned that one of her students, Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), is being abused.  As she and others look into the situation, it becomes apparent that Lucas is hiding a much darker secret that anyone could have expected.


What Works:

This is a dark movie.  Unapologetically dark.  From the trailer, I figured that would be the case, but Antlers doesn't pull any punches.  Abuse is a major theme of the movie and no one is safe from being killed or even eaten in some cases.  I really respect movies that shy away from the darkness and Antlers is certainly one of those.

To continue with how horrific this movie is, there is some really awesome gore here.  Like I mentioned above, people get eaten in this movie and there is enough left over to be found by our characters...and it's always nasty.  Anyone who is a big gore-hound, like myself, will definitely enjoy it.

The first 2/3rds of the movie act like a classic small-town murder mystery.  I definitely got some Stephen King and Twin Peaks vibes.  I love those kinds of stories.  They always manage to get me engaged and although we know more about what's going on than the characters, we don't know everything, which makes it feel more of a mystery movie at times than a straightforward horror film.

The atmosphere is really fantastic.  The film takes place in Oregon, but was shot in British Columbia.  The mountainous setting really works fantastic for this sinister story and we get lots of fog and grim weather to match the mood,


What Sucks:

The 3rd act isn't quite as good as the first two.  We get two of our main characters fighting with the creature and neither fight looks very good.  Luckily, the more emotional moments of the 3rd act work fine, but the climatic action is underwhelming.

Most of the characters are a little bit underdeveloped as well.  We are given a really interesting potential setup with Julia's brother, Paul (Jesse Plemons), being her investigative partner for the movie, instead of a random love interest.  These two have some tough backstory, but we never really get enough of what it was and it's never fully wrapped up.

Finally, Graham Greene is an actor I really like, but he is woefully underused in this film.  He has about four scenes and is only used to deliver exposition.  It's a waste of a talented actor.


Verdict:

Antlers is a very dark film, with awesome gore, great atmosphere, and a really solid first two acts.  The 3rd act loses some steam and some of the characters are underused and underdeveloped, but this movie has still got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Argylle (2024) Review

Image
 "The human skull is shockingly brittle." -Aidan Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a very successful spy novelist.  She draws attention from the espionage community when plot points in her books come true.  When Elly is attacked on a train by a group of spies, she is rescued by another spy, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who needs her help with his mission and to do that, she needs to write another chapter of her latest book. Spoilers Below.  Go ahead and read on because I don't recommend this movie, but either way, you've been warned. What Works: Argylle has a really fun premise that really works in the first half of the movie.  It's a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, spy movie, and it's a blast.  Watching Ellie predict where to go based on what the characters in her books would do is a lot of fun.  It's what the whole movie should have been. The opening sequence follows Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on another dangerous mission as he pursues the villainous LaGrang
Read more

Top 10 Movies of 2023

Image
2023 is finally over and it's time for me to put my Top 10 list together.  2023 was definitely a weaker year for movies.  There were definitely some great movies, but there were also plenty of disappointing and bad movies as well.  I still managed to put together a great Top 10 with a couple of worthy contenders that just missed the cut.  Let's take a look! #10. They Cloned Tyrone They Cloned Tyrone is a wild and fun sci-fi tale that takes place in the hood.  A drug dealer, a pimp, and a prostitute discover a cloning conspiracy and the results are intelligent and hilarious.  This is a really smart and funny movie with some amazing performances across the board.  This was a movie that kept me guessing the whole way through.  What an absolute blast. #9. Renfield I'm guessing Renfield will be the most controversial entry on my list as I feel like I'm the only person who liked this movie.  I love the old Universal monster movies and the fact that we get a direct sequel, whi
Read more

Madame Web (2024) Review

Image
 "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." -Santiago Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York paramedic, hits her head in an accident, which unlocks the ability to see glimpses of the future.  When she sees Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) attempting to murder three teenage girls, Cassie intervenes to save them.  As Cassie learns to understand her power, she also discovers the connection between her, the girls, and Ezekiel. What Works: I think the core idea at the center of this movie is a good one and has the potential to be interesting.  Cassie's superpowers are kinda lame.  It's not like they're going to help in a combat situation.  Ezekiel is basically evil Spider-Man.  He has legitimate powers and is a massive threat.  That's an interesting conflict.  How does someone with lackluster superpowers take on a supervillain.  It's a fun idea that I would like to see tried again with greater success.  What Sucks: This movie was embarrassing to
Read more