Guillermo del Toro and Scott Cooper discussed their upcoming horror film Antlers during Comic-Con@Home Saturday.
The panel opened with new footage from the film, along with commentary from filmmakers. Check out the preview at the start of the panel below:
Antlers comes from director Cooper and producer del Toro. The story follows a teacher (Keri Russell) and her police officer brother (Jesse Plemons) living in a small town in Oregon. They become convinced one of her students is concealing a supernatural creature in his home. The film was adapted from a short story by Nick Antosca called The Quiet Boy.
About The Wendigo
The creature in Antlers is a wendigo. It comes from Native American stories. The spirit is believed to appear as a punishment for dishonorable or taboo behaviors. The wendigo first appeared when Native Americans were driven to cannibalism after being starved by colonialists.
Because the story of the wendigo is so personal to many First Nations, Antlers had special consultants on the film. Filmmaker Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals) and Professor of Indigenous Studies Grace Dillon guided the film’s portrayal of the wendigo. Dillon, regarded as the foremost authority on the wendigo in the US, stressed that the wendigo isn’t just a myth to many Native Americans, but a very real and threatening presence.
From the filmmaking perspective, del Toro worked with visual and effects artists to give the wendigo “unnatural or surreal” elements.
“We have to remember we’re not creating a monster. We’re creating a god,” said del Toro.
The film releases in February 2021. Until then, watch the trailer for Antlers below.
Meanwhile, be sure to check back to That Hashtag Show for the latest out of Comic-Con@Home.
