This movie was...really a let down. There were just lots of atmospheric shots and not a whole lot else. I loved the practical effects though, they were definitely disturbing. The movie needed 1 million times more backstory and development and also some more exploration of myth. Antlers is a horror movie set in a small town following a teacher who finds disturbing drawings in her student's desk and the student who is trying to survive and protect his family. It happens that there is a monster in the town and his dad, who is a drug addict and single parent, runs into the monster at the start of the movie and things start to change with him from there. The movie tries to drop hints that the teacher has a tragic backstory as well and to use that to entice the student to trust her to support him. Unfortunately, we are given perhaps exactly 3 flashbacks for the teacher and one additional scene where she and her brother argue briefly about their childhood. There's no depth given to this at all. There's also very little depth given to the actual myth of the monster. Spoilers ahead [spoiler] - the first lines in the movie are a native american myth or something which gives away that the movie is about the Wendigo. The retired cop actually brings this up immediately and shows them a book about the Wendigo myth and they decide alright this is the monster...practically instantly because all signs point to yes. Except the brother has to doubt it...of course.[/spoiler] There were too few exploratory scenes behind the monster myth as well - this was quite a low-hanging fruit when it comes to Native American mythology - it was like [spoiler]seeing a movie version of Until Dawn, which did explore the Wendigo myth well IMO.[/spoiler] The movie, despite being so atmosphering and spooky, doesnt seem to utilise its artistic shots very well, a few times the filming and effecst really bring the movie down, especially in tense combat scenes where you can't tell what's even going on. I found myself rolling my eyes at the typical stupid cop stereotype that pervades the horror genre. Plus some events in the movie don't seem to make sense to me at the end. Like, for example [spoiler]how did both the brother and son get infected with the wendigo spirit if the protective charms are there and have held it in the cave for decades? and where did the original wendigo go after they killed the drug addict and possessed the dad? there were definitely more than 1 wendigo, why would they need to leave their body and possess a new human?[/spoiler] It...could be worth just watching the film but it wasn't amazing.

Average creature feature with an above average creature. Where Antlers fails to deliver on character development and plot it begins to make up for with a well-paced and gradual monster reveal that burns out too quickly and anticlimactically. I can't help but feel that a Native American cast would easily make up for the lack of impactful characters and bring more weight into the myth sulking in the background of the plot.

Decent slow-building creature horror with lots of atmosphere. I honestly didn't expect it to be good and what I got was a bleak depressing ride. The technical aspect of the film is very impressive and the story, while flawed, is still engaging enough as it explores some interesting themes. It does fall into a couple of clichés, also doesn't dive into the lore very much, and some of the subjects could've been explored further and intertwined better but it's still entertaining nonetheless. The main kid does a fantastic job at being creepy and adorable at the same time. There is some excellent puppetry and practical effects combined with usual digital stuff. The creature is amazing once fully formed and the gore will certainly make your skin crawl.