#ANTLERS.

Scott Cooper, an acclaimed filmmaker known for his artful exploration of the human condition, has made a diverse array of films, each one examining cultures and stories within a host of genres. From the underside of addiction in the country music world in CRAZY HEART, to the intense familial drama that haunts the thriller OUT OF THE FURNACE, to his astute take on the journey of Native Americans in the aftermath of battle in his western HOSTILES, Cooper has sought to redefine our expectations of classic genre norms. And while Cooper explores the underlying social issues in his writing and filmmaking, he always seeks to assemble a crew of craftspeople to showcase eye-catching cinematography, intricate sound design, impeccable production design and dynamic acting to create an immersive cinematic experience. With ANTLERS, Cooper jumped at the chance to tackle the genre of classic horror, and to work with the maestro himself Guillermo del Toro, a man who knows the way to boldly tell a tale of monsters.
Cooper’s attraction to the horror genre may have been the next logical step in an already nontraditional career. “Horror movies have always been among my favorites— DON’T LOOK NOW, THE EXORCIST, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, and of course THE SHINING”, says Cooper. “And after doing a -musical in CRAZY HEART, a suspense thriller in OUT OF THE FURNACE, a gangster movie with BLACK MASS and a western with HOSTILES, it felt natural to segue into horror,” says Cooper.
But Cooper wasn’t interested in horror-for-horror’s sake. He was intent to tackle a narrative that would allow him to employ the classic horror genre as a vehicle for telling a terrifying story of one family’s journey into darkness, steeped in the intimacy of a small northwestern seaside town. “How could I talk about what’s happening in America today and somehow draw those themes into horror? To me, the best of those films shares elements of social commentary, while also delving into the fears and weaknesses that haunt so many of us,” he says, adding that centering his story around a tortured yet formidable heroine as embodied by the versatile actress Keri Russell was a “complete coup for my film.”
As luck would have it, in the summer of 2017, producer David S. Goyer (THE DARK KNIGHT) met with producer J. Miles Dale (THE SHAPE OF WATER) about a script written by Nick Antosca and C. Henry Chaisson, who’d adapted author-producer Antosca’s (Hulu’s The Act) short story “The Quiet Boy.”