Friday, November 19, 2021

Antlers (2021) * *

 


Directed by:  Scott Cooper

Starring:  Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Scott Haze, Sawyer Jones

Director Scott Cooper has specialized in making films with atmosphere and eeriness, even with non-horror films like Black Mass and Out of the Furnace.   Antlers almost has a fog descended over it.   It is grey, murky, dark, and not much fun.   The characters cannot seem to fight through the impenetrable cloudiness onscreen.   And then there is the icky creature an infected person turns into which has antlers growing out from the inside like a poor man's Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Yuck.

Not much happens in Antlers except for its flawed people trying to fight off the creature who was once human but infected by an alien life force.   A young boy (Thomas) sees his father and brother turn into the antlered beings and is rightfully scared.   His recovering alcoholic teacher (Russell) and her sheriff brother (Plemons) try to protect him from the monsters who were once his loved ones.   No wonder the boy is conflicted.  

Confession time:  After a long day of work, a hearty meal of Chinese food, and then indulging in popcorn and a soda while lying back in a comfy leather recliner, I was enveloped in the cozy fogginess of Antlers and drifted off.   My snore eventually woke me up.   Did I miss the best parts of the movie?   I'll never know.   I have a feeling I saw everything I needed to see in Antlers and wouldn't be surprised by anything I might have missed.   This just isn't the type of movie with twists and turns.  



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