ANTLERS

 Keri Russell     Jesse Plemons     Graham Greene     Amy Madigan     Jeremy T. Thomas     Scott Haze

            Be prepared; this is a scary shocking movie.  I was heard to yell out quietly twice.  Music by Javier Navarette, cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister, and production design by Tim Grimes set the stage, along with creepy and disturbing sounds that aren’t always identifiable.  Helmed by director Scott Cooper, the filmmakers have created a film that is successful in a number of respects, in addition to the above.

        For instance, the background of the two main characters, brother and sister Paul (Plemons) and Julia (Russell), includes child abuse, which gives them insight into the events they are discovering.  She is a dedicated teacher who picks up on signs in Lucas (Thomas), a student in her class, that everything is not all right at home.  And Frank Weaver (Haze) has a reputation and history in town that makes his current situation seem plausible.  Mix into these aspects Wendigo Indian mythology and you have the makings of a true horror show.  Producer Guillermo del Toro’s influences on production are palpable in a good way.            

        It’s great to see Keri Russell after her long stint on television in “The Americans.”  She brings some of her character, Elizabeth Jennings, from that series into this production with her inquiring mind and clarity of vision and purpose.  Even though he is a sheriff in their small town, her brother Paul has a tendency to deny what is in front of him and seek less troublesome explanations of events, but Julia goes right past him, at times doing some investigating on her own.  Plemons is to some degree effective in his role, repeating some of his others, namely Jake in I’m Thinking of Ending Things from a couple of years ago and Gary in Game Night, a 2018 movie, in which he seems a bit clueless.

            A stand-out is young Jeremy T. Thomas as Lucas, the child who is subjected to peculiar horrors on a daily basis and has come to realize that the role of parenting is on his shoulders long before he is ready.  His face and demeanor reflect all the emotional distress, fear, intimidation, and calm confidence that he is meant to display, and Thomas  appears to be a natural.

            I have a complaint in almost all the horror movies I see, that characters do things I would call foolish—even dumb.  After hearing sounds that should alert them to danger, they blunder right down into a dark cellar, out into the dark night, and in this case, opening a front door that no one has answered, behind which animal-like noises are heard from within.  These characters never ask for reinforcements before entering, often without a gun or even a flashlight.  Those scenes take my brain right out of the fantasy into a more practical mode.          

         Antlers is largely effective in achieving the aims of a horror flick that will set the viewer’s teeth on edge and tap into primordial fears common of most.

 A horror movie weaving in mythology, child abuse, and mystery into a gripping tale.

 

Grade:  B                              By Donna R. Copeland

THE HUNT

Hilary Swank     Betty Gilpin     Ike Barinholtz     Wayne Duvall     Amy Madigan     Reed Birney     Emma Roberts

     A perfect allegory for the times.  The Hunt is a 20^thcentury take on George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, in which the animals rebel against their masters.  Only in this rendition, it’s the “Elite Liberals” against “The Deplorables.”  Its plot is not a straightforward telling of a story.  It starts out with a group chat on the telephone, then goes backward and forward in time.  (So keep track of the names, even though it will still be confusing because identities are frequently shifting.)

     Before (almost) everything becomes clear, we witness characters being restrained on a plane and later hunted with guns, arrows, and hand grenades in an open field or roadside station.  These are people from different parts of the country who have been kidnapped, anesthetized, and brought to…they don’t know what state they’re in.  They only hear references to “Manorgate” (parallel to Orwell’s “Manor Farm”), and two pigs wearing human clothes appear from time to time—clues for those familiar with Orwell’s work.)

     That’s enough of the plot; it will be more entertaining and engrossing the less you know about it.  

     Writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof are to be congratulated for their creativity in adapting a novel published in 1945 about Russia and the Soviet Union and cleverly making it relevant to our country today.  Director Craig Zobel expertly films their script, making it come alive in ways that are simultaneously entertaining and appalling.  I always have a problem with movies shifting back and forth in time, and in this film, it’s especially challenging when characters disappear and reappear, and identities often shift (e.g., it is not always clear whether a character is one of the good guys or the bad guys)—all of which contributes to its formulation as an intriguing intellectual puzzle.  

     Betty Gilpin exquisitely plays a somewhat mysterious figure who seems at first to be a deadpan young woman from Mississippi.  But she is a formidable fighter and always seems two steps ahead of whomever she meets.  Gilpin deserves a nomination for this role.  She easily carries the story as a lead figure.  Hilary Swank is perfectly cast in her role, although she is not present in most scenes.  Supporting cast is likewise a talented group of actors who move the story forward with ease.

     My only criticisms are in too much shifting back and forth in time (a current fad in filmmakers’ trying to make their movie more exciting) and in the length of the final battle (as unbelievable as it is humorous).

     This is one of those films that come along every so often to remind us of the artistic, intellectual talent at filmmakers’ disposal.  When you see a work like this, you wonder again why this talent is not tapped more often, and we are offered remakes and sequels ad nauseam.  Oh, yeah…once again, it’s all about the money.

Prepare to be entertained (likely) while being appalled (almost certainly) in this well-informed allegory reckoning back to George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland