Like many other memorable horror movies, Antlers takes place in an atmospheric small town filled with secrets and monsters lurking in the shadows. However, unlike some other horror movies, the small Oregon town in Scott Cooper's film is populated with characters who feel like genuine human beings.
Unfortunately, for some characters, this means they also act like genuine human beings. Not everyone who comes across the wendigo is a rocket scientist and not every person is smart enough to survive until the end. But some characters may just be sharp enough to take down the horned supernatural monster.
9 Clint Owens (Cody Davis)
As it turns out, this folklore-based horror movie has more than one monster. Lucas's bully, Clint Owens, isn't in many scenes but what little screentime he gets, he spends being cruel to other characters, most notably Lucas and Aiden.
Clint also doesn't seem particularly smart. For instance, his vocabulary is lacking, mostly relegated to barking orders. Furthermore, his antagonism is far from a sign of emotional intelligence. In fact, it's fair to say his lack of emotional maturity is responsible for his death. The child he's bullying now has a monster for a father, who enacts revenge for all the abuse Clint has shown to his son.
8 Frank Weaver/The Wendigo (Scott Haze)
With his interpretation of the wendigo, Scott Cooper has become one of the best monster movie directors today. However, the wendigo isn't a physical monster throughout the entirety of Antlers. It's really inhabiting the body of Frank Weaver (and his son, Aiden).
Weaver loses points for intelligence considering not only does he operate a meth lab, but he's brought his young son along. Meth labs explode frequently, so there didn't even need to be a malevolent spirit for that to have been a dangerous situation. Furthermore, running a volatile meth lab within a mine that would be more than a little prone to cave-ins is extremely unwise.
7 Principal Ellen Booth (Amy Madigan)
As the principal of Lucas's school, Ellen Booth should be far wiser and more empathic than she is. She remains a naysayer in spite of reasonable evidence of child abuse that is obvious to anyone willing to see it. That she doesn't see the signs until it is too late not only shows the limits of her intelligence but also causes her eventual demise.
Ellen eventually going to the Weavers' home is within reason, but going alone was unwise. Even if she were just to have brought Julia or law enforcement with her, she may have lived as opposed to begrudgingly marching towards her death. Ellen committed the cardinal sin of a potential horror movie victim: never investigate a potentially dangerous situation alone.
6 Aiden Weaver (Sawyer Jones)
Aiden Weaver was younger than Lucas, which could help explain his decision to effectively walk into the wendigo's path. If Lucas is the type to prepare prior to acting, Aiden was the polar opposite as he relies more on instinct than intelligence to dictate his actions.
None of what happens to Aiden is the fault of himself or a supposed lack of intelligence; he was really just doing what his meth-cooking father told him to do. Aiden is perhaps the film's most tragic character as his duties as a son come first, which ultimately dooms him to a sad fate.
5 Dan Lecroy (Rory Cochrane)
Officer Dan Lecroy makes moderately reasonable decisions throughout the runtime of Antlers but isn't given enough of an arc to display any hints of his proficiencies. However, he can't be slighted either, as Lecroy mostly just serves to comment on the passing horrors while doing his best to protect those around him. He also can't be slighted for the wendigo tricking him. He was familiar enough with Aiden that it makes sense he'd fall for it.
4 Paul Meadows (Jesse Plemons)
Time will tell if Paul Meadows is one of Jesse Plemons' best movie & TV roles, but the actor is a welcome presence regardless. Should there be a sequel, the character will morph into something else entirely, but within this narrative, he's a relatively intelligent individual who seems perfectly suited for the job he has.
Julia seems like the brighter of the Meadows siblings, with a more obvious method of showing empathy, but Paul isn't so different. He has a heart, but his emotional intelligence is more reserved. At the very least, Paul has the intelligence required to assist in unraveling the mystery behind the bisected man he and Lecroy find in the woods. He is also portrayed as being competent in his role as the town's sheriff, which typically requires a lot of quick thinking to be good at.
3 Julia Meadows (Keri Russell)
Julia Meadows is a long way from Keri Russell's Mouseketeer days. She's tough, capable of wielding a pistol to fend off an evil spirit. But Meadows is also extremely compassionate, a mature adult able to face the world and come out on top while remaining a good person.
For instance, she'll go out of her way to find out what is going on with a student. This indicates an inquisitive mind just as much as it indicates an altruistic personality. She is also shown as being capable of defending herself and not needing anyone else to solve the mystery, which conveys an intelligence most of the other characters in Antlers just don't possess.
2 Lucas Weaver (Jeremy T. Thomas)
Jeremy T. Thomas gives one of the best child actor performances in modern horror as Lucas Weaver. It's a subtle performance that masterfully conveys Weaver's admirable, if not also unsettling, level of perception.
Lucas is easily the smartest of the Weaver family. He's smart enough to understand what is causing a strange noise rather than investigate it blind. He also has the emotional intelligence to feed his transforming father and brother with animal carcasses as opposed to running for the nearest (healthy) adult.
1 Warren Stokes (Graham Greene)
At the very least, former sheriff Warren Stokes is the wisest resident of Antlers' small Oregon town. This aspect of the character is bolstered by a strong and reserved performance from longtime actor Graham Greene.
Stokes is a comforting presence because there is obvious, genuine knowledge permeating his speech. He's also the lead characters' entry point to understanding the wendigo. Without Stokes, Julia and Paul would have been even less prepared for the monster, assuredly resulting in their deaths.
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