The film follows a school teacher who suspects one of her students is suffering from personal problems in his home life, not knowing that he is harboring an evil demon in his house.

In the small town of Cispus Falls in central Oregon, Frank Weaver runs a meth lab out of an inactive mine.

Three weeks later, twelve-year-old Lucas Weaver, Frank's eldest son and Aiden's older brother, spends his time roaming the town, collecting roadkill and killing small animals before taking them home.

Lucas's teacher, Julia Meadows, is alarmed by his strange behavior and frightening drawings, and attempts to bond with the troubled boy.

Since her father's recent suicide, she returned to Cispus Falls to be with her brother Paul, who is the local sheriff, and whom she feels guilty about abandoning when she was younger.

When Lucas returns home, he is taken to the hospital, where Julia and Paul are told he is severely malnourished, dehydrated, and shows physical signs of having been abused for some time.

[2] The initial announcement included Scott Cooper as director, with Keri Russell in negotiations to star, and filming set to begin in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the fourth quarter of 2018.

[3] In October 2018, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Amy Madigan, Scott Haze, and Rory Cochrane joined the cast.

The website's critics consensus reads: "It struggles to find a successful balance between its genre and allegorical elements, but Antlers is sharp enough to recommend as a richly atmospheric creature feature.

"[22] Linda Marric of The Jewish Chronicle gave the film a score of 3/5 stars, writing: "Antlers is both dark in tone and aesthetically stunning to look at.

[24] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was "thoroughly successful both as icky art house horror and as an allegory of generational trauma" and praised Jeremy T. Thomas' performance.

"[26] Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend gave the film a 2.5/5 star rating, saying in a mixed review: "Given its promise and everything it does right, Antlers winds up being a frustrating experience.

"[27] Meagan Navarro, writing for Bloody Disgusting, also gave the film 2.5/5 stars and said that Cooper takes it too seriously, putting the emotional trauma at the forefront and saving the horror for the finale.

"[30] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "There are measured performances here by both Russell and Plemons, two unfailingly talented actors, and a host of well-crafted practical effects...

But the film's eeeeeghghgh quality isn't limited to its on-screen viscera – Antler's gross-ness extends to its screenplay's slop-bucket collection of overused but underdeveloped themes, and a visual style that cough-gurgles poverty-porn fetishism.