048 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
who is completely out of his depth.”
Cooper takes the Wendigo mythology and
uses it as a metaphor to explore
themes of addiction and the lasting
effects of colonisation on the indigenous
population in the USA. It’s something
which he has explored in his previous work
with revisionist western, Hostiles. Native
American actor, Graham Green also appears
in the film, and is someone who Cooper
spoke at length with about these issues:
“Graham is one of our great indigenous
actors and I thought he could represent the
historical trauma of Native Americans in a
tragic but graceful and powerful way. He
and I spoke about what it means to be an
indigenous person, what it means that this
historical trauma both in the US and Canada
has continued since people first came to
our shores. If you’ve spent any time on the
reservations, as I have, it’s heart breaking.
We as Americans aren’t doing nearly enough
to help the women, men and children who
live on these reservations. That’s one of the
many things that keep me up at night.”
He decided to keep the horror grounded
in reality, and cites films like Nicolas Roeg’s
Don’t Look Now, William Friedkin’s The
Exorcist and John Carpenter’s Hallowen
as touchstones for the kind of tone he
wanted to set. “I like ambiguity in my films,
I think demystifying everything is not the
key to a successful story. I wanted to pose
questions for the audience to come up with
their own answers. I wanted it to be lightly
drawn but pointed enough so the audience
could take something from it that maybe
I wasn’t so explicit with, but is implied. I
wanted to discuss the horrors that we as
Americans are experiencing. In America, we
are suffering an addiction crisis, and one if
we don’t effectively and efficiently address
“Horror is a genre that allows me to continue to explore the furthest
and darkest reminisces of the human experience. I have a duty as
a storyteller to grip the audience by the throat and never let go.”
Scott Cooper
046-049_SFN_170 Antlers.indd 48 18/03/2020 08:14
048 | W W W. S C I FI N OW.CO.U K
who is completely out of his depth.”
Cooper takes the Wendigo mythology and
uses it as a metaphor to explore
themes of addiction and the lasting
effects of colonisation on the indigenous
population in the USA. It’s something
which he has explored in his previous work
with revisionist western, Hostiles. Native
American actor, Graham Green also appears
in the film, and is someone who Cooper
spoke at length with about these issues:
“Graham is one of our great indigenous
actors and I thought he could represent the
historical trauma of Native Americans in a
tragic but graceful and powerful way. He
and I spoke about what it means to be an
indigenous person, what it means that this
historical trauma both in the US and Canada
has continued since people first came to
our shores. If you’ve spent any time on the
reservations, as I have, it’s heart breaking.
We as Americans aren’t doing nearly enough
to help the women, men and children who
live on these reservations. That’s one of the
many things that keep me up at night.”
He decided to keep the horror grounded
in reality, and cites films like Nicolas Roeg’s
Don’t Look Now, William Friedkin’s The
Exorcist and John Carpenter’s Hallowen
as touchstones for the kind of tone he
wanted to set. “I like ambiguity in my films,
I think demystifying everything is not the
key to a successful story. I wanted to pose
questions for the audience to come up with
their own answers. I wanted it to be lightly
drawn but pointed enough so the audience
could take something from it that maybe
I wasn’t so explicit with, but is implied. I
wanted to discuss the horrors that we as
Americans are experiencing. In America, we
are suffering an addiction crisis, and one if
we don’t effectively and efficiently address
“Horror is a genre that allows me to continue to explore the furthest
and darkest reminisces of the human experience. I have a duty as
a storyteller to grip the audience by the throat and never let go.”
Scott Cooper
